I'm Your Brother!
by BeyondTheClouds777
Summary: "Don't you see, Heather? I'm your brother!" A what-if for episode 11 of Race to the Edge, "Have Dragon Will Travel Part 2". *WARNING: RACE TO THE EDGE SPOILERS* *Rated very low T for violence*
1. Chapter 1

**HELLO! This is a one-shot for episode 11 of Race to the Edge, "Have Dragon Will Travel Part 2." I don't know if anyone's done a story like this yet. I hope they haven't. I don't like feeling like I'm copying people...**

 **Annnyyywaayysss...new story! Enjoy this...or hate this...whichever one you choose is fine with me. :) Enjoy chapter 1!**

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"Windshear!" Heather commanded. "Finish him!"

The dragon growled in agreement, raising its tail threateningly. Dagur squirmed against his bonds, and Astrid remained dumbfounded for a few moments before she found her voice again.

"Heather, no!" she shouted. "You promised us a capture mission!"

"Sorry, Astrid," Heather hissed. "Dagur didn't 'capture' my village. This ends...now!" She raised her hand when Astrid tried to step forward, and Astrid instantly froze. Heather grinned smugly, her eyes narrowed at the enemy who had killed her parents.

Even if they _weren't_ really her blood parents.

She was just about to bring her hand down in the final command for Windshear, but then, a plasma blast exploded, and Windshear ducked back down. Before Heather had the chance to shout and demand what had happened, another voice cut through the air like an arrow.

"Stop!"

Heather and Astrid spun around in unison, just as Toothless flew towards them with Hiccup on his back. "Heather, stop!" Hiccup shouted. As Toothless was still flying, Hiccup stood up, jumped off his back, swung on a rope dangling from the mast of the ship, and stopped directly in front of Heather.

He tapped her shoulder to get her attention, and she slapped his hand back. "Move, Hiccup!" she demanded.

"You don't understand!" Hiccup said. "I need to talk to you! See this?" At that, he held out a horn - her horn. The horn her father gave to her. Not her adoptive father, but her _real_ father. For a few moments, she wondered how Hiccup got it, but she couldn't bring herself to care very much.

"What - where are you-" she began.

"Look!" Hiccup pleaded. "This...this is my Dad's Chief seal!"

The closer Heather looked at it, the more she saw how right Hiccup was. It _did_ look identical to Stoick's seal. She took the horn from him, examining it closely. "Stoick's seal is carved on my horn!?" she blurted. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, years ago," Hiccup began in a very story-telling manner, as if he were standing up to recite something in front of a class, "a woman named Valka Haddock, wife of the Chief of Berk, gave birth to two children. Twins. A boy, and a girl. But one night, a mysterious tribe attacked them, and the girl and the Chief's horn were taken by the tribe."

Heather gasped. She could see there this was going...almost.

" _You_ were that girl, Heather!" Hiccup said. "Valka Haddock...she was your mother! And...and she was also _my_ mother."

 _Now_ Heather got it for sure. She saw what Hiccup meant.

"Don't you see, Heather? I'm your brother!" Hiccup said. "Your parents...your tribe...they stole you from Berk! They stole you from _your family!_ They were never your parents, Heather! They never cared about you, or for you, or anything! They only wanted you because...they must have thought that having the Chief's daughter would somehow benefit them!"

Heather couldn't believe it. She thought he was joking, for a minute, but what he said added up. It made _sense_.

The very moment she saw Hiccup, all those years back, there had been an unspoken connection between the two of them. Not a romance, but more of a...brotherly-sisterly friendship that came out of no where. Sure, she had lied to him and everything, but that didn't mean she hated _him_.

She knew he never thought of her as a romantic partner, either. She could see it in his eyes. He never loved her like he loved Astrid. He loved her as a close friend.

A sister.

How had she not seen it before? How had she not noticed it? She should have. She should have been able to put the pieces together.

"But...but why didn't you look for me?" Heather asked. "Why didn't you and your Dad find me?"

"My Dad said he looked everywhere for you!" Hiccup said. "He looked high and low, left and right...the only reason he didn't recognize you all those years ago, when you came to Berk for the first time, was because we were twins! He thought you would look like me. But, the horn...and the 'not knowing your blood parents...'" Hiccup paused.  
"He never told me about you, because he was sure you were dead! He didn't want me to feel guilty, because you were taken and I wasn't..." He looked up at her with his intense, green, analysing eyes.

Her eyes. The same eyes she had. The only real thing the two of them had in common as far as looks went. She studied him; he wasn't lying. She knew a liar when she saw one, and Hiccup was no liar.

So, her family _hadn't_ been killed. Her foster family turned out to be the ones who stole her from her real family. Her life felt like a lie. Her _whole life_ felt as though she had been being played like a harp. She was a tool. Like Hiccup said: _They must have thought that having the Chief's daughter would somehow benefit them!_

Hiccup was her family. Stoick was her family. She had a _family_. A real family, who was willing to protect her. Even before they knew they were related, Hiccup always looked after Heather. Family would-

She was brought out of her thoughts by slow clapping. She, Hiccup and Astrid spun around, just as Dagur stood up, his hands freed from the ropes that once tied them behind his back.

"Good show, Hiccup, good show!" he congratulated. "You never disappoint, brother! Or...or maybe you're my uncle! Who knows in this crazy world!" He chuckled darkly, but it stopped abruptly. He scowled, and then, he smiled. "Now! I would hate to ruin this... _beautiful_ moment, but…"

Before anyone could react (even Windshear, despite her speed and quick mind), he drew a dagger out of his belt and held it out threateningly. "Now listen here, Hiccup!" Dagur said. "I'm going to offer you a trade!"

Hiccup crossed his arms. "I'm never trading with you!" he shouted. "Come on!" He motioned to Astrid and Heather, looking ready to run and jump on Toothless. "Let's go!"

"Ah ah ah!" Dagur said threateningly, shaking his finger warningly. "I wouldn't do that if I were you! See, I have a knife, and you know how accurate my throw is...it would be so easy to just...FLING." He pretended to throw the dagger, and he laughed once again. "Kill your sister...or your girlfriend...it wouldn't be hard at all, brother. Not at all. So then. Which one will it be?"

"Which one will _what_ be?" Hiccup snapped, although their was a waver to his voice that said he already knew what Dagur meant.

"Oh, which one should I kill!" Dagur said. "Oh, and don't think about calling the dragons, because if you do, _I_ will pick who to kill."

Heather gasped, as did Astrid and Hiccup alike.

"So then, Hiccup," Dagur said, twirling his knife between his fingers. "Will it be your sister...or your friend?"

Hiccup looked torn. Absolutely _torn_. Heather could almost feel the worry rolling off him in waves. He wasn't even that close to her - he was a few feet away from her, and nearly two yards away from Astrid, and yet the entire atmosphere changed.

"Go ahead!" Dagur said. "Make your decision!"

Hiccup gritted his teeth. "Heather," he said. "Kill Heather."

It was as if the world had just ended. All of Heather's hopes were crushed. She was devastated. Of _course_ family wasn't everything. Her own brother picked his girlfriend over his sister, which Heather had half expected, but that didn't make it hurt less.

Maybe she had been right all along. Maybe there _was_ no place for her to go. Maybe no amount of running would finally bring her peace. Her family didn't want her...or at least Hiccup didn't. Her foster family was dead, and even if they weren't dead, Heather didn't think she could ever return to them. Not after hearing what Hiccup had to say about them taking her from her real family and everything.

But where else was there to go? Where else was there to run? Where? How? Who was going to be on her side?

She lowered her head, staring at the deck of the ship. Maybe death was what she had coming to her the whole time. Maybe it was her time. Maybe this was the time she died. Maybe...maybe she _didn't_ have a place to call her own. Maybe she didn't belong anywhere.

She didn't dare look. She saw Dagur raise his arm in the corner of her eye, but that was it. She was pretty sure she heard Astrid say something, but she wasn't even sure of that anymore. Nothing mattered. She didn't have friends. She didn't have a family. She didn't have a _purpose_.

She heard the sound of the dagger cartwheeling through the air, and she shut her eyes, bracing herself for the impact of the weapon in her chest.

But then…

"HICCUP!"

 _THUNK._

The dagger hit something...but it didn't hit _her_. It hit something else.

No. Not _something_ else. _Someone_ else.

She heard a _thump_ of something that sounded like weight being dropped onto wood, and when she looked down, what she saw made her heart skip a beat.

Hiccup - her _brother_ \- lying on the deck of the ship, between her and Dagur. The knife was lodged in his stomach, all the way to the hilt.


	2. Chapter 2

**22 REVIEWS LAST CHAPTER!? WHAT!? _WHAT!?_ I opened my email this morning and I was just BLOOOOWWWWWN AAAWWWAAAYYYY! Thank you guys so much! And I'm sorry for that last cliffhanger. I felt the need to do that. **

**But then again, I suppose I _always_ feel the need to do that...what is wrong with me? **

**BUT thanks to all who read, fav, review, or follow! You guys are SO MUCH MORE AMAZING then I am! I hope you enjoy chapter 2! And yes, there will be more chapters after this, so don't worry. :D**

 **ENJOY! :D :D :D**

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Well…

That was a bit shocking, and that was coming from Heather, who was used to shocking things.

Dagur had been aiming for her. She had _seen him_ take aim. Then why was Hiccup the one hurt?

She didn't have much time to think about it before Astrid raced past her, bumping her on accident, and then threw herself down at Hiccup's side. "Hiccup!" the blonde screamed. "HICCUP!"

That was what snapped Heather out of her daze. She shook her head, her eyes filling with terror as she too knelt by her brother. His eyes were closed, and Heather found that she couldn't move as Astrid grabbed his shoulders and shook him roughly.

"WHY!?" Astrid yelled at him, although he didn't respond. His eyes were shut, his face paling alarmingly. "WHY, HICCUP!?" Astrid cried.

It was then that Heather realized what had happened. Hiccup must have put himself between Dagur and her, just before the weapon hit her. He saved her life, and as he was formulating a plan, all she did was feel sorry for herself.

That was why he picked her over Astrid; Heather was closer to him. He knew he would be able to jump in front of her and take the knife for himself. If Astrid was the one closest to him, Hiccup would have picked her.

He wasn't picking _favorites_. He was saving them both, and as he was doing that, all Heather did was pity herself.

She should have moved out of the way before Hiccup jumped in front of her. She should have attacked Dagur before he had the chance to throw the knife. She should have...she should have...she should have…

She _shouldn't_ have been so selfish. All the while she was selfish, Hiccup was self _less_. He risked so much for her, even before they knew they were siblings, and all she ever did was think about herself.

Astrid's terrified shout was what brought her back to reality. "HELP ME!" she screamed in terror, and Heather didn't know what to do, exactly. She grabbed Hiccup's hand and curled her fingers around his wrist.

He had a pulse, but it was thready and hardly sounded even, let alone healthy. She felt too terrified to do anything else, so she simply sat there, keeping hold of her brother's wrist.

"You're gonna be alright, Hiccup," Astrid soothed, putting her hand on his cheek, but he didn't even move. His head lolled against Astrid's hand, and Heather couldn't tell whether or not he was unconscious. "You're gonna be alright, you'll see," Astrid promised. "You'll see, just hang on..."

Heather didn't think the same. The knife...the amount of blood…the bleeding which still hadn't stopped yet...at this rate, he wasn't going to make it…

 _NO._

 _WHAT AM I THINKING!?_

 _I didn't come so far to get revenge on Dagur for hurting my family just to watch my own brother die by the hands of that maniac! I didn't suffer all these years alone just so that my own family could die because of me! I won't let him die by the knife that should have ended up in my chest!_

"Watch him!" Astrid demanded, jumping to her feet and racing off. Heather didn't know where she was going, but she could well assume the destination had something to do with getting cloths or bandages to stop the bleeding with. She sat there, holding Hiccup's hand with both of her own, trying to keep from crying.

She couldn't remember the last time she cried in front of someone. She couldn't even remember the last time she cried _at all_. She supposed it was when her village was killed...what seemed so long ago...the deaths of her kidnappers...

Deep, dark chuckling was what brought her out of her thoughtful remorse. She glared up at Dagur, her teeth bared. The deranged maniac was smiling madly, laughing as if it were a game. _A game_. To think that anything like this was even _remotely_ like a game made Heather want to kill him alone, not including the fact that he hurt a member of her small, precious family.

If she included the fact that Hiccup was dying because of Dagur, then what she _really_ wanted to was cut off Dagur's arm, cauterize the wound, stab it open again, cauterize it a second time, chop off his legs, one by one while using the same process, stab him in the chest, but not in the heart, so that he didn't die and yet felt all the pain. She wanted every living moment of his to be worth than death. She wanted to see him suffer. She wanted to make him _pay_.

"Now look what you've done, Heather," Dagur cackled. "I wonder how it feels, being responsible for the death of your brother...your blood brother, too! Not that he has much blood left in him…"

Him saying that alone was worth the loss of an arm in Heather's mind.

She was about to stand, to do something to the one who hurt her brother, when all of a sudden, she felt Hiccup squeeze her hand back. His grip was weak, but there was no mistaking it. She looked down at him.

"No...don't…" he pleaded, his eyes just barely open. She could see the pain in his green irises, along with a few tears welling in them. She would cry, too, if she was in that much agony. "Don't...Heather...there will be another...time…"

Heather didn't want there to be another time. She wanted Dagur's life to end _now_. She wanted to end it all _now._ But if it was a choice between fighting Dagur or protecting Hiccup, then the answer was obvious.

She would always protect her family. Just like Hiccup protected her.

Hiccup choked and retched, a small stream of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth and onto his cheek. Heather lifted her brother's head off the wooden deck and cradled his skull in the crook of her arm in an attempt to keep him from choking. She didn't know what to do. She wasn't a healer.

"Another time?" Dagur asked as if oblivious to the pain he was causing both Heather and Hiccup. It took all of Heather's willpower to not kill him then and there. Hiccup was unconscious now, and that alone terrified Heather. "Another time for _what_ , brother? There won't be a next time! Not for you, anyways. For Heather and your friends, maybe, but not for-"

A mass of black scales slammed into him instantly, and Dagur was cut off in mid speech when Toothless pounced on him and growled in his face, his teeth unsheathed threateningly. When Dagur hit the deck of the ship, he must have hit it pretty hard, because almost as soon as his body stilled, he was unconscious.

"Good boy, Toothless!" Heather congratulated. "Hold him there!"

As if Toothless was ever going to let go.

"Heather!" Astrid's voice shot through the wind, and the Hofferson girl reappeared, carrying armfuls of gauze. She stumbled to the ground beside Hiccup, analyzing his wound and the knife still stuck in his stomach. "Okay, Heather, you're going to have to hold him," Astrid said, almost subconsciously, although Heather could hear the hidden panic behind the girl's voice that was slowly but surely bubbling to the surface. "I need to pull the knife out."

Heather didn't like the words "Pull" and "Knife" and "Out" used in the same sentence the way Astrid was saying, but it wasn't as though she were going to protest. She simply nodded and grabbed Hiccup's other hand, holding them both in hers while also trying to keep his head supported. When Astrid pulled the dagger free, all Hiccup did was jerk weakly before promptly being dragged into his unconscious state again.

Windshear and Stormfly stood around them, and Toothless pinned the unconscious Dagur to the deck of the ship. Berserkers were surrounding them now, as Astrid wrapped roll after roll of gauze around Hiccup's stomach while Heather held him up. The dragon riders above them were firing at ships at random, and they were doing a good job of keeping most of the Berserkers away, but a few of them managed to escape and jump on Dagur's ship to help their leader.

They ran as soon as they saw Stormfly and Windshear, but still, it was annoying.

"There," Astrid panted, finally stepping away. "That'll hold. It'll hold." She sounded as though she were reassuring herself. She nodded shakily, hiding her hands behind her back. But not before Heather saw the blood on them.

Hiccup's blood.

Her brother's blood.

"He needs medical attention," Astrid said simply, her voice strained and oddly choked. "I don't know what's going on here, Heather, but I trust you. We need to get him somewhere where he'll be safe...Dragon's Edge, maybe?"

Heather thought about it for a moment and then shook her head. "No," she said. "It's too deep of a wound. Any time wasted could be his life falling away."

Astrid froze, her already pale face going paler. "Then what's the other option?" she asked. She didn't sound as though she were questioning Heather; she sounded panicked, looking at Hiccup as she was speaking.

"We need to take him directly to Berk," Heather said.

"But Berk is nearly forty hours from here!" Astrid yelped. "And that's by flying Toothless! Toothless is the fastest dragon we have right now, and we can't fly him without Hiccup. It'll take at least two days to get to Berk by Stormfly-"

"Windshear and I can do it," Heather said determinedly. "We _will_ do it."

Because the alternative was waiting around for Hiccup to die.


	3. Chapter 3

**AHH! Thank you all for the AWESOME reviews last chapter! I was grinning like a mentally disturbed person every time I read one. They make my day, you have NO IDEA! :D Thank you all SO MUCH, and I hope you all like this next installment to the story! So, without further adieu, on with chapter 3!**

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Astrid looked torn, and it was easy to see why. But she still nodded in the end after looking at Hiccup's unconscious face, and the amount of blood staining his clothing. "Okay," the Hofferson nodded uneasily. "Okay, you'll take him on Windshear, and we'll meet you at Berk."

Above them, Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins were firing at Berserker ships and Berserkers that tried to get on the ship Hiccup, Astrid and Heather were on. No one seemed to realize how Hiccup had been injured, and if they did, they were too busy fighting Berserkers to take it to heart.

"Windshear!" Heather shouted to her dragon, and Windshear raced over instantly, crouching low to the ground. Between Heather and Astrid, they managed to get Hiccup onto Windshear's back, and as soon as they did, Heather jumped on behind her unconscious brother and held onto him tightly.

"We'll be right behind you," Astrid said, "and for the love of Thor, be _careful_."

"You know me," Heather said. "When am I not careful?" After realizing that saying that probably didn't help Astrid at all, Heather patted Windshear's neck, and the dragon shot into the sky.

Toothless roared and leapt off Dagur, racing towards the edge of the ship. He roared into the sky as the Razorwhip, the dragon's rider, and Hiccup disappeared from view.

"It'll be okay, Toothless," Astrid promised him, although she wasn't one hundred percent sure herself. She _hoped_ it would be okay. She hoped _Hiccup_ would be okay.

She didn't exactly have time to think about how Hiccup and Heather were brother and sister before this, and even now, she couldn't wrap her mind around it. She would have to do it later.

"Oooohhh, my head," Dagur groaned as he sat up, clutching his temple.

Astrid drew her axe and made her way back towards the Berserker. She swung her axe and held it over her shoulder, glaring at Dagur threateningly. Dagur didn't seem fazed, because he only smiled.

"Astrid," he said. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Astrid bashed the flat of her axe against his head. "THAT'S FOR STABBING HICCUP," she yelled. As Dagur tried to get up, she raced over and kicked him twice as hard as she could muster. Toothless then bounded over as well, and as soon as he got close enough, he whacked Dagur with his tail. The Berserker yowled and fell over the side of the ship, hitting the ocean with a _SPLASH_.

"AND THAT'S FOR EVERYTHING ELSE," Astrid yelled at him.

She knew he wasn't dead, and he would probably be back soon for vengeance, but they didn't have time to finish him properly. Astrid turned and mounted Stormfly, glancing at Toothless.

She would have to get Snotlout to help her carry Toothless with Hookfang, since the Night Fury couldn't fly on his own.

"Come on, guys!" Astrid shouted. "Let's get out of here!"

...

"Come on, girl," Heather whispered. "Come on, Windshear, faster!" The Razorwhip growled in acknowledgement and cut through the sky like a silver arrow, flying towards Berk. Heather may not have seen the island for a few years, but she knew how to get to it regardless. She wasn't sure why; she just remembered.

Her father was on Berk. Her father - Stoick the Vast. It almost seemed too good to be true. She had a father, and she also had a brother. She knew Hiccup's mother was taken in a dragon raid, which meant that she didn't have a mother, but it beat not having a family at all by a long shot.

She would mourn over not having memories of her mother, but she had a father and a brother to help her through it.

 _But I won't have a brother much longer if I can't get him to safety…_

"FASTER, WINDSHEAR, FASTER!" Heather shouted desperately, and the dragon obeyed, her wings pounding against the air. The dragon had to go faster. She had to, or they would never make it in time. Even as it was, Heather didn't know how much longer Hiccup had, or even if the healers on Berk could help him at all…

She shook her head violently. No, she wasn't thinking about that. She couldn't think about that. Not right now, anyways. Not when their situation was already so serious.

Hiccup stirred, and she held him tighter to keep him from moving. If he was coughing up blood, it wasn't good. That was something she knew for certain. She just had to make sure he kept breathing, and that his heart kept beating. That was the most important thing on her mind. As long as he was still breathing, and as long as his heart was still pumping, it meant that he was still fighting.

It was relieving.

But she didn't want him moving and making himself worse, either.

She heard Hiccup murmur something she couldn't make out, and she looked down at his face without thinking about what she was doing.

His eyes were barely cracked open, and his breathing was labored and sporadic. When Heather checked his pulse, she realized that it was racing, rapid yet weak. His skin was pale and cool, but at the same time, clammy, which only added to Heather's worry. His lips were pressed together, almost as though he were holding his breath...

She froze. She knew these symptoms, but she didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to believe it. It was a bad time, when they were in the sky flying towards Berk. It was a _terrible_ time for Hiccup to be going into shock.

But all the symptoms were there. Her brother was either in shock, or very close to being in shock.

"Hiccup, breathe," Heather managed to gasp out. Her mind was racing. What happened if he didn't breathe? What would happen if his heart stopped beating altogether? "You're going into shock," Heather said, trying to keep her voice from wavering although she failed miserably. "You have to _breathe_ …"

Fearing that maybe something was blocking his airway, she tipped his head back. "Hiccup!" she yelled at him. "You need to BREATHE!"

Hiccup coughed harshly and gasped, and Heather felt like crying for more reasons than one. Her brother was still alive…

For now…

"That's it, there you go, you got it," Heather said, her panic from only moments earlier shrinking into something small and manageable that she could hide from Hiccup. "You got it. Keep breathing."

Hiccup shut his eyes again. "Sorry," he murmured. "I...I forgot…"

Heather felt like crying all over again. Hiccup forgot to _breathe_. How does one forget the need to _breathe?_ It came automatically, breathing did. It made Heather worry even more, and at the moment, she couldn't deal with much more worry. It was making her feel sick.

"Well, don't forget again," Heather said, trying to keep her voice demanding and strict.

Windshear flew faster. The wind grew colder, and Heather knew in a heartbeat that they were nearing Berk. She didn't know how fast Windshear was going, and honestly, she didn't care too much about finding out.

The only important thing was getting Hiccup to healers who knew how to treat him and help him. That was all that mattered.

Hours passed. She was unaware of how many. Hiccup zoned in and out, and more than once, Heather had to remind him to breathe, and when he did breathe, he complained quietly about it being painful.

He needed medical attention quickly, or it would be too late.

And then, out on the horizon, was the outline of an island. The sun had set, so Heather had to squint in order to make it out, but it was there nonetheless.

Berk.

She could have laughed and cried with relief, but didn't. Hiccup was barely conscious, and she was focused on keeping him awake at least until they landed.

She wondered how Stoick would react to seeing her after knowing that she and Hiccup were brother and sister, but she couldn't dwell on even her own father for very long. There would be time for that later.

Windshear landed on Berk, and a crowd of villagers instantly sprang backwards, away from the heavily-armed dragon and its rider. Heather refused to show weakness to the Berkians, but by the looks on their faces, she failed.

"Someone get help!" she commanded. "Hiccup's life is at stake!"

Three or four villagers rushed to do as Heather had demanded while others remained, staring at the raven-haired girl and the wounded boy she was protecting.

"OUT OF MY WAY!" a voice - a familiar voice - boomed, and it wasn't a moment before Stoick pushed his way through the crowd of onlookers. He looked at Heather, and for a brief moment, Heather saw a look of relief and happiness flash in his eyes.

But then, he looked down at Hiccup, and his eyes were consumed with terror. "HICCUP!" he shouted, charging forward. Windshear crouched low to the ground, and Heather loosened her grip on Hiccup so Stoick could take him from her. He did so, scooping his son into his arms with more force than Heather thought necessary.

Hiccup groaned.

"He was stabbed," Heather explained frantically, sliding off Windshear's back. Stoick and the surrounding villagers gasped, but said nothing for a good long while.

Then, Stoick turned and ran towards the healer's abode, motioning for Heather to follow him. Heather did so without a second thought, chasing after her father and her dying brother.

 _DYING BROTHER._

She wanted to scream and yell and slap herself for thinking such a thing, whether it was the truth or not.

Stoick got there before Heather, but Heather was quick to catch up. Windshear followed her, yet the Razorwhip remained outside while Stoick and Heather raced into the healer's hut.

Gothi jumped when they entered, but stopped when she caught sight of Hiccup's limp form in Stoick's arms. She gestured quickly to a bedroll which was laid out on the floor for her patients, and Stoick was quick to lay Hiccup on it and kneel by his side.

After little hesitation, Heather did the same.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, guys! How are you all doing today? I'm doing good. Really pumped up about Hiccup!Whump right now...gosh, what is my problem? I've got a SERIOUS problem. I love Hiccup!Whump way too much for my own good...**

 **Anyways...**

 **Thanks for all the reviews, guys! I will never be able to fully express how awesome you guys are, and how much your support means to me. I'm a young author (between the ages of 13-16), and so I just wanted to say, THANKS. :D Here's the next chapter! Enjoy! :D**

 **Oh, and I was wondering...do any of you have ideas on what you want to happen in his story? Note that I might do little to none of the suggestions, but right now, I don't want this story to end so soon, and it will probably end really soon (like, five-six chapters soon) if I don't get more ideas. So, if you have ideas, give 'em here! :D Thanks again, and enjoy chapter 4!**

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Stoick and Heather remained with Hiccup, and although Heather didn't move, Stoick moved quite frequently, one of his hands on Hiccup's chest while his other hand held his son's head up as to ease his breathing, even if just slightly.

"His heart's racing," Stoick said. It sounded as though he were trying to be calm, but the crack and franticness in his voice gave it all away. He was terrified.

Heather didn't blame him. She was pretty terrified, too, after all.

"Hiccup, you need to calm down," Stoick coaxed, although his voice was demanding and sharp. Heather was certain he hadn't meant for it to come out that way. "Take a breath, son. Deep breath in...deep breath out…"

Hiccup gasped, coughed, exhaled shudderingly, and repeated the session over again, his chest heaving with every breath he took. Gothi returned shortly afterwards, a satchel in one of her hands. She dumped the contents on the floor, nudged Heather aside (the girl listened instantly, although she remained as close as possible to her family), and knelt down beside the wounded boy.

The village elder and healer opened Hiccup's mouth and looked down his throat, for reasons Heather didn't understand yet didn't question. Gothi let him go and sat back, grabbing one of her knives off the floor. Hiccup coughed, and Stoick tousled his hair in a comforting gesture.

Heather wished there was something else she could do, but alas, for there wasn't. When Gothi finished cutting away the bandages with the knife she had grabbed, she frowned at the wound.

Heather made the mistake of looking.

The stab wound was deep, red, and clearly irritated. The skin around it was puffy and swollen, which made Heather feel even worse. There was dry blood mixed with fresh blood - Hiccup's entire stomach was covered in blood, both dry and fresh. The dry blood had crusted, while the fresh blood still spread.

Gothi poked at the skin around the wound, and Hiccup jerked and yelped instantly. Gothi frowned again - she seemed to be doing a lot of that, and it wasn't very reassuring.

Then, Gothi began threading a needle. Heather paled; she could feel the color draining from her face.

She didn't think she wanted to watch this. No, she was pretty sure she didn't want to watch this. Not so much the stitching in it of itself, but it was watching Hiccup in pain that she couldn't bear.

"I'm...I'm going to...step outside," she managed to gasp out. Then, she jumped to her feet and raced away without another word, rushing outside before anyone had the chance to stop her.

She rubbed at her eyes furiously with the heels of her hands, trying to stop her tears before they even began. She could feel her hot, salty tears wetting her hands, and she rubbed her eyes harder.

She wasn't going to cry.

She wasn't going to cry.

She wasn't going to cry.

Try as she might to make herself do otherwise, she found herself crying. Her, crying. Heather, crying. She couldn't stop her tears once they began, and although she felt shameful for it, she couldn't bring herself to care.

Her brother was gravely injured. She was allowed to cry about that, she thought.

The door to the healer's abode swung open, and she lifted her head as Stoick - no, not just Stoick anymore. Her _father_ \- walked out of it and strode towards her.

He didn't say anything. He simply grabbed her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

Heather felt her breath quicken, and she let her arms hang limply at her sides as her father hugged her. This was different then when she was held by her foster parents. This felt...different. She couldn't put her finger on it exactly. She felt...loved. Cared for. The hug wasn't fake: it was _real_. It was one of the realest hugs Heather had ever had.

The only other hug that felt this real was the hug Hiccup gave her back at Dragon's Edge, the day he talked to her about why she was attacking ships. She'd hugged him then, and he'd hugged her back, and the hug felt wholehearted.

She shut her eyes. She'd forgotten what it felt to be cared for like this. Hiccup was willing to give his life for her. It took a special kind of person to do that.

At length, Stoick pulled away and held her back by the shoulders. He looked tongue tied, and Heather felt the same way. She didn't know what to say. What was she expected to say? _Hey, Dad_ didn't sound appropriate. It sounded far too casual, but saying _Hello, Father_ sounded too solemn.

Apparently, Stoick felt the same way. In the end, he offered her a sad, reassuring smile, and then headed back inside the healer's hut. She remained there for a few more minutes, standing in silence.

She would have to talk to Stoick more, and do more catching up with Hiccup as soon as Hiccup was taken care of.

After another minute, she heard a scream. A scream of agony and pain, coming from the house she was standing in front of. She gasped, shutting her eyes tightly to keep from crying again.

She knew the scream. The scream of her brother, agonized by crippling pain Heather didn't know how to describe. Even though she herself was perfectly fine, she still felt as though she were being stabbed in the chest. She felt almost as if she had been the one to get hit by the knife instead of Hiccup. Her chest ached and tightened. Another scream filled the air, and then, all went silent again. She didn't want to think about what had happened, but her mind still wandered.

Why did he stop screaming?

Was...was he dead?

No. If he was dead, Stoick and Gothi wouldn't still be in there. Hiccup was still alive. Passed out, perhaps, but not dead on any account. He was strong, and Heather knew it. He'd survived the entire flight here. He wouldn't be taken down so easily.

Something nudged her from behind, and she turned around to face Windshear. The Razorwhip cooed at her rider, the dragon's eyes sad, and Heather couldn't help what she did next.

She flung her arms around Windshear's neck and cried. She cried, her tears soaking her dragon's scales. Windshear growled worriedly, but Heather didn't pull away. If anything, she cried harder. She cried for her brother. She cried because she felt weak. She cried because there was _nothing she could do_ to help Gothi and Stoick save her sibling.

She lost count of how long she was standing out there. Hours, perhaps. When dawn broke over the island, she realized how long it had been. All night. She'd stayed there all night.

What was taking the healer so long? She almost didn't want to picture it. It made her feel beyond unsettled.

She heard the sounds of wind rushing against something else, and she turned around. Stormfly and Hookfang dropped Toothless onto the ground, and the Night Fury instantly growled, bounding towards the door and scratching it helplessly.

The other dragons landed not a moment afterwards; Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug, and Barf and Belch, with their riders mounted on their backs.

Astrid was the first one off her dragon, and she raced forward, towards Heather. "Where's Hiccup?" she asked, panicked.

Heather lifted her hand towards the healer's hut, and Astrid continued running towards it. She swung the door open, and raced inside with Toothless.

Part of Heather wanted to follow Astrid inside.

The other part of Heather was afraid of what she would find.


	5. Chapter 5

**HELLO, GUYS! WE GET HICCSTRID IN THIS CHAPTER, YAY! :D I love Hiccstrid. I'm such a fangirl when it comes to Hiccup and Astrid.**

 **IT WAS SO FUNNY. In the episode, "Imperfect Harmony", when Hiccup and Astrid were sitting side by side glancing out at the horizon, talking about everything they would find, it was SO AMAZING and almost romantic.**

 **As it was going, I was imagining that ASDF video clip, where the girl says, "It's so beautiful out here", and the guy says, "Yeah, it's just you, me, and the moon." AND THEN THERE'S THIS RANDOM THING THAT SHOUTS, "HEY, YOU TWO SHOULD KISS!" and then the clip ends. That was so totally me in that scene, I just had to say it.**

 **And I'm being random again...**

 **Enjoy chapter 5! :D**

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Astrid pushed the door closed again and instantly raced towards where Hiccup was lying. He was beyond pale, his face nearly white while his cheeks were flushed an unhealthy shade of red. His shoulders were exposed, the rest of his body covered by a thick blanket that was brought up to his chest. His head was cushioned by a rolled-up cloak, and his chest was rising and falling steadily, indicating deep breaths.

Toothless bounded over towards his unconscious rider and nudged the side of his head. When Hiccup didn't move, Toothless plunkered down on the floor beside him and laid his head over Hiccup's chest with a quiet coo of concern.

Astrid shook her head to knock herself out of her thoughts as she too ran to Hiccup's side. She knelt beside him and took his hand; his fingers felt like ice, which she had half expected. Still, it didn't make it any less shocking and worrisome. His hand was limp, too. She wanted him to squeeze her hand back, like he normally did whenever they held hands, but he didn't even so much as twitch. She touched his forehead, and for once, he didn't wake up like he would have done any other day. Instead, he simply murmured incoherently and leaned into Astrid's cool hand.

"Oh, Hiccup…" she whispered, sweeping his sweat-damp bangs off his forehead. She was startled by the contrast between his freezing hand and his burning forehead, and she wished there was something she could do. But alas. She felt helpless.

She hated feeling helpless, especially when it came to Hiccup being in pain. She heard Stoick and Gothi discussing something (or, Stoick was talking and Gothi was writing) behind her, and she turned around as Gothi and the Chief of Berk entered the main room again.

"Well?" Astrid asked, trying to keep from sounding as though she hadn't been crying and panicking. She _had_ been crying and panicking the entire flight back to Berk, voicing no worries out loud and sobbing in silence for fear of looking weak and being embarrassed in front of Snotlout, the twins and Fishlegs.

Her voice was thick because of it, and she hoped Stoick didn't notice.

"How is he?" Astrid questioned after another moment when Stoick didn't reply.

Stoick sucked in a breath. "He'll live," Stoick stated simply.

That was reassuring, but at the same time, it wasn't. Just living wasn't a good enough answer for Astrid. She raised an eyebrow at her Chief, and Stoick sighed, resting his head in one of his hands.

"It'll take a while before he recovers," he said. "According to Gothi, the knife he was stabbed with bruised his rib. It's not severe, and she said it will heal in a week or so, but it's enough to lay him low for a while."

As Astrid looked back at Hiccup, she _did_ notice a small wheeze whenever he breathed, and how his chest shuddered ever so slightly whenever he inhaled or exhaled. She cringed when she imagined the amount of pain he must have been in.

"And the wound?"

"Gothi stitched it up," Stoick answered. "But he still needs to be careful so he doesn't end up ripping his stitches out." He glanced at the door, and then looked back at Astrid. "Would you mind staying with him?"

For a moment, Astrid wondered why the Chief wanted to leave his wounded son in the first place, but then, it came to her. Heather was Hiccup's sister, which made Stoick Heather's father. No doubt, Stoick wanted to talk to Heather.

She nodded as soon as she finished thinking. "Yeah," she said. "Of course I'll stay with him. Do you even need to ask me?" She squeezed Hiccup's fingers in a silent reassurance for herself. Hiccup was alive, and she needed to remember that. He was alive. He was going to be fine.

Stoick nodded and smiled sadly, although it didn't reach his eyes. He then turned and left for outside.

…

"So, he's really your brother?" Snotlout asked. He, the twins, and Fishlegs sat around Heather in a semi circle, and she explained to them what had happened to Hiccup, and about the startling yet incredible truth they had uncovered.

Heather nodded slowly. "Yeah," she said. "He's really my brother."

"But...but that means we can't be together," Snotlout said sadly.

Heather glared at him. "Hiccup nearly died, and all you can think about it _that!?"_ she blurted. She couldn't _believe_ Snotlout. And moreover, she couldn't believe Snotlout was her _cousin_ now that they knew Hiccup and she were brother and sister.

Snotlout cowered, shrinking backwards as if he could somehow seep into the ground. Heather calmed herself, taking a deep breath. "And besides," she said, "now that we can't be together, I'm free from you trying to get me to like you."

Well, it _was_ freeing. She felt an odd sense of freedom now.

The door to the healer's hut opened again, and Stoick walked out. Fishlegs, the twins, Snotlout, and Heather shot to their feet at the same time, and Heather was the first to race forward, towards her father.

"Is he alright!?" she demanded, panic filling her tone despite how she tried to keep her voice emotionless.

"He's alright," Stoick answered calmly. "He'll be out of it for a few days, and he needs to rest, but he'll be alright, in the end."

Heather and the others sighed in relief.

"So, Heather," Stoick said slowly.

"So...Dad," Heather began in the same slow, cautious tone. Did Stoick like to be called "Dad"? She knew Hiccup always reffered to him as "Dad", but at the same time, Heather didn't know anything about Stoick except that he was her father. Did he want to be called "Father" by her?

How awkward this was, and how much more awkward this was going to become.

"How did you figure out it was me?" Heather asked. "You didn't recognize me before. Why did everything suddenly add up?"

Stoick sighed, and nodded. "Here," he said, sitting down. The others quickly did the same. "Let me tell you."

 _Nineteen years previously, Valka Haddock gave birth to a set of twins. The firstborn child was a boy, and when he was born, he was sick and weak, not expected to survive the night. The second born of the twins was a girl, very healthy in every way, shape and form, an exact contrast to that of her sickly brother._

 _Two months after their birth, Berk was attacked by a mysterious tribe that seemed to have no name. While the war was being fought on the East side of the island, two soldiers of the attacking tribe snuck towards the opposite side, to the Chief's house._

 _They found the babies in an upstairs room, and after seeing the sickly state of the boy - the male of the two, who would probably grow up to be Chief of the village - they took the girl instead. They didn't think the boy would survive very long, or they would have taken him._

 _But having the Chief's daughter would be a geat benefit, they believed, so they took her, along with the Chief's horn, which they also found upstairs._

 _The attackers left almost as soon as they came, with one of the two Haddock babies. The Berkians searched everywhere for the girl, both Stoick and Valka and the rest of the tribe, but when Valka was taken during a dragon raid months later, Stoick finally decided to stop._

 _He looked for his daughter, and he looked for his wife, and when he came out empty handed, he dedicated his life to protecting his son._

"Wow," Snotlout breathed. "That's CRAZY! Who would take the Chief's daughter? That's insane! And if I'm saying it's insane, then it's _actually_ INSANE!"

Stoick nodded. "Aye," he said.

"But how did you know Heather was your daughter?" Fishlegs asked. Heather was too dumbfounded by the tale to say anything at the moment, so Stoick simply nodded and continued.

 _Only days previously…_

" _About the horn, Dad," Hiccup said slowly, "Heather said that her father gave it to her, and it has your crest on it."_

 _All of a sudden, Stoick froze. He thought about what Hiccup had said, about the horn, and everything...it_ was _his horn. Stoick rememebred that horn. The horn the attackers stole, along with his daughter…_

 _But it couldn't be…_

 _It was impossible. Heather was dead...she'd been missing for nearly nineteen years. She ahd to be dead. It wasn't possible._

 _Was it?_

" _Dad," Hiccup said, clearly hesitant. "Is Heather my sister?"_

 _As soon as the words were out of his mouth, it was as though Stoick's eyes had been opened. He spun around to face Hiccup, dropping the horn onto the table. Hiccup took a nervous step backwards._

" _Yes!" Stoick exclaimed, grabbing Hiccup by his shoulders. "Yes, Hiccup! Heather's your sister!"_

 _Hiccup gasped in shock. "But...but HOW!?"_

 _And Stoick told him. Stoick told him about what happened all those years ago, and as soon as he finished his story, he grabbed the horn and pushed it into Hiccup's hands._

" _Now go, lad," Stoick said. "Find your sister. When she returns, we will celebrate!"_

 _Hiccup laughed giddily and raced off, running so quickly he tripped nearly a thousand times._

Heather was still having a hard time processing everything she heard. "And it's _all_ true?" she asked.

Stoick nodded. "Yes, Heather," he said. "It's all true. I...I can't believe we actually found you." He reached over and hugged her again. Heather felt shocked at first, but in the end, she hugged her father back. She never thought of Stoick being the hugging type, but of course, she supposed this was a special occasion.

"As soon as Hiccup is well enough," Stoick said, "we'll have that celebration. The Chief's daughter has returned."

Heather beamed. Everything had turned out alright after all, then. Hiccup was recovering, and Heather had her family back. It was perfect.

Or was it…?

Miles away, Dagur the Deranged stood on a ship occupied only by him, away from his men. He looked at the body of water ahead of him. At this rate, he would reach Berk by midnight.

He'd been following the dragon riders in secret ever since they first took off, and now, he was almost there. Almost to Berk, where he would finish what he started.

He had left his men behind, saying that he wanted to go alone.

"No! I want Hiccup all to myself!" Dagur had chuckled darkly. "And I want his...his _sister_ to myself, too! They are MINE! Mine to _KILL_." He had laughed again. "Oh, glorious day! Dagur kills the son and daughter of Stoick the Vast! With Berk heirless, they will be _hopeless!"_

He was almost to Berk now. It was only a matter of time before he would end the lives of Hiccup, and the Berkian's sister.

Yes. It truly _was_ a glorious day.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, guys! It's me again! :D I was rewatching "Quake, Rattle and Roll", and I couldn't help but realize what fangirls Hiccup and Fishlegs are. They were all fangirling over "Dark Deep", and it was so funny. When Fishlegs was singing the song about Dark Deep and the Gronckles, and Hiccup was just, "Fishlegs! I haven't seen you this excited since Snoggletog morning when we were seven!"**

 **I loved that line, by the way. I don't know why. I just did. :D**

 **So, here's chapter 6! Enjoy! :D**

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Heather stepped back into the healer's abode. Stoick went to explain everything to the village so that Gothi wasn't pestered by villagers asking what had happened to Hiccup, and while he did that, Heather had settled for checking on her brother again, seeing how Astrid was holding up, and probably staying with Hiccup for as long as possible.

Astrid was kneeling on the floor beside where Hiccup was lying, dabbing his forehead with a wet cloth. As Heather approached, she was shocked by the state her brother was in. He was shivering visibly, his teeth chattering violently. His cheeks were red, the rest of his face washed white like fresh snow while beads of sweat rolled down his face. Toothless licked his cheek, and Hiccup didn't even react or scowl, like he would have done any other day.

Heather stared at him for a brief moment before she sank to the ground at his side, sitting across from Astrid. All Astrid did to acknowledge the raven-haired girl's presence was lift her head and nod, her movements small. Heather nodded back, and although she was sitting on the ground beside her sick, wounded brother, her mind was elsewhere.

She replayed the scene many times in her head: Hiccup giving the command for Dagur to kill her instead of Astrid, how selfish and self-pitied Heather had felt, and then listening to Astrid scream Hiccup's name as Hiccup put himself in front of Heather, shielding her from the knife that was meant to end up in her chest.

It was her fault. It was her fault Hiccup was like this. Not Astrid's fault, not Hiccup's fault, and honestly, Heather didn't think it was Dagur's fault, either. If she hadn't been so selfish, she could have moved out of the way. If she hadn't pitied herself so, maybe she could have jumped to the left before Dagur's dagger met its mark.

But instead, she was only thinking about herself, and Hiccup was the one who reacted. Hiccup was the one who saved her life. Hiccup was the one impaled by Dagur's knife. Hiccup was the one who ended up going into shock from bloodloss, screaming in pain while the healer stitched his wound, and now, feverish and unconscious while Astrid dabbed his forehead and held his hand.

Hiccup took the pain and agony that was meant for Heather.

Heather grabbed her brother's pale hand and felt for his pulse. It was racing yet thready, and she sighed, shutting her eyes. "This is all my fault," she whispered, her voice cracking on the last word although she did everything in her power to prevent that from happening.

Astrid's head jerked up in her direction, the girl's eyes sparkling and piercingly blue, like sapphires caked in a thin layer of ice. "This," Astrid said, "is _not_ your fault."

Heather had suspected Astrid would say that. "Yes it is," she argued. "Yes it is, you know it is. You said we should have waited for Hiccup back at Dragon's Edge, and that attacking Dagur without him was a bad idea, and I didn't listen. If I'd listened, we might never have gone after Dagur at all. But instead-"

"Heather," Astrid said firmly, "Hiccup wouldn't want you to blame yourself."

"Don't play that card with me," Heather snapped. "I'm sure Hiccup didn't want to get _stabbed_ right through the stomach, either."

Astrid winced, looking down at the unconscious boy. She laid the wet rag back on his forehead and sighed. For a moment, Heather thought she had gone too far by bringing up the stabbing, but she didn't apologize.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Astrid said, "but Hiccup didn't save your life just so you could blame yourself. He saved you because he wanted you to _live_. Live blaming yourself? No. Live knowing your family? Yes."

Heather wanted to argue, but she knew Astrid was right, deep down, despite how she would try to deny it. "But-"

"No," Astrid said. "No buts this time, Heather. If you want to blame anyone, blame Dagur. Get mad at Dagur. But getting mad at yourself? No. That's not the answer."

Heather thought long and hard about what the Hofferson girl was telling her. She was right. Astrid was right. It was Dagur's fault. If Dagur hadn't killed Heather's village, she never would have attacked, and if Dagur hadn't threatened to kill one of them, Hiccup would have never gotten hurt.

Yes, she would take Astrid's advice. She was no longer mad at herself.

But her anger at Dagur increased ten-fold. The murderer tried to kill her brother. That murderer almost _succeeded._ Heather swore revenge on Dagur the Deranged, even if it was the last thing she ever did.

"You're right," she said. Her voice suddenly sounded deeper, and more of a low growl than anything else. "It's Dagur's fault. If I ever see him again...I'll kill him, Astrid. I'll make him pay for what he did."

"Hey, and remember," Astrid said, "two axes are better than one. If you ever need my help, go ahead and ask. I'll be glad to help you."

Heather smiled faintly. "Thanks, Astrid," she said.

Astrid smiled weakly, the grin not reaching her eyes. She carded her fingers through Hiccup's hair for just a moment before her eyes flooded with concern again. She felt his forehead, right below his hairline, and frowned. "His fever's gotten higher," Astrid said worriedly.

"Here," Heather said, rising to a stand. She grabbed the nearly empty bucket of water off to the side and made for the door. "I'll get some more water."

"Thanks, Heather!" Astrid called to her, and just like that, Heather was gone.

...

Night fell, and Heather still refused to leave Hiccup's side. Astrid had gone home just a few minutes ago, when Heather told the Hofferson that Hiccup would be upset if she didn't get some sleep. As it was, Astrid looked ready to collapse from exhaustion, so she protested little, telling Heather to let her know if Hiccup got worse.

Stoick had also left when Heather reminded him that an exhausted Chief was no help to his people. Stoick was beyond reluctant, but at long last, Heather finally managed to convince her father to head home to get some sleep.

Toothless and Windshear were sleeping together in the corner soundly, snoring the night away. The longer Heather watched them, the more tired she grew. She was certain she was going to fall asleep, when a quiet voice jolted her awake again.

"Heather?"

She glanced down at Hiccup. His eyes were cracked open now, and he was gazing up at her with a look of confusion covering his irises. He blinked and swallowed. "Wh...what...where...?"

"Sh, stop," Heather told him, her voice barely rising above a whisper. It sounded as though he were straining himself, just to speak, and she didn't want him to overwork himself. "You have to rest, Hiccup. You're very weak."

Hiccup blinked, his eyes swimming into focus. "Are...are you guys okay?" he croaked.

Heather rolled her eyes. Here he was, exhausted and barely able to keep his eyes open, and yet, he was worried about everyone but himself. Her brother was either super sweet, or super stupid. Or both. "We're fine," she said. "Astrid and the others got back safely."

Hiccup took a deep, shuddering breath and exhaled slowly, wincing in the obvious pain he was in. "And Dagur?" Hiccup coughed.

"Taken care of," Heather said, focused on answering his questions as quickly as possible so that he would finally sleep. "I don't think we'll be seeing him for a long time, so you don't have to worry, alright? But you _do_ have to rest. You're only going to get worse if you keep straining yourself."

"But...but I'm just..." Hiccup said, obviously trying to protest although his body had other ideas. He blinked against his rapidly closing eyes, trying to stay awake although it clearly wasn't working very well for him. His eyes were fever bright and glazed over, a dull shade of their usually intense, beautiful green.

"...Exhausted," Heather finished for him when his voice trailed off. "You're exhausted."

"I was...going to say...worried..." Hiccup got out, although his voice was weak and heavy as if just talking alone drained him of energy. "D...Dagur might...he might come back..."

"He won't," Heather assured him. "And if he does, he'll be _sorry_ he was ever _born_."

Hiccup sighed and shut his eyes again, and in a few moments, his breathing deepened, indicating that he was sleeping. After a few more minutes, after vain attempts to keep her eyes open, Heather fell asleep as well.

They were unaware of the ship docking on Berk's shore, and Dagur the Deranged stepping off of it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey hey hey, guys! Did you miss me? :D So, I decided to update again today! Whoo! :D I finished one of my other stories, so now I'll have a bit more time to write this one. I finished this chapter, and I was like, "Ah, what the heck?" so here it is! :D Thanks for all your reviews last chapter! You guys truly ARE amazing! :D Enjoy chapter 7!**

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Dagur walked slowly, the twigs snapping almost silently beneath his feet. He didn't even need to think very much before he figured out Hiccup's location; the healer's hut, obviously. That's where he would be, and no where else. Dagur knew he would find Hiccup there, and when he did, Hiccup was going to be sorry he ever became enemies with Dagur the Deranged.

Dagur drew his axe as he walked, and in his other hand, he grabbed a handful of dragon nip out of his satchel. If Toothless or Heather's dragon were there with Hiccup, Dagur knew he would need something that would keep the dragons out of it while he did his thing.

What was his thing?

Killing Hiccup, obviously. Was there any other thing?

And if he could somehow manage to get Heather on his side of thinking...well, that would be nice, too, of course. She could be useful to him and his armada. She could be _very_ useful to him and his armada. All it would take would be a little bit of manipulation. A bit of twisting her thoughts. If Hiccup was her brother and Stoick was her father, that wouldn't have been too hard to do.

Grinning, he continued on towards the healer's abode, getting ready to throw the dragon nip when needed. If he knocked those dragons out, he would make Hiccup defenseless. After Hiccup was dead, Dagur would find Heather, kidnap her, and get her to come to his side as a Berserker.

It sounded like a flawless plan to him.

He slowed dramatically when he reached the front door to the healer's hut. He waited quietly, waiting for the right moment to open the door, and then, all at once, he pushed it open.

The instant he saw the dragons sleeping in the corner (Toothless, and Heather's dragon as well), he threw the dragon nip at them. The dragons made small, dreamily coos deep in their throats, and then, they were sleeping even sounder than they had before.

Dagur smiled. It had worked. He then turned around, searching for Hiccup, and what he saw made him smile bigger.

Both Heather and Hiccup were sleeping, Hiccup lying on his back with a blanket over his body while Heather laid on her side just inches away from him. It looked like, by her position, she had fallen asleep on accident. Maybe she was on guard duty and was supposed to be protecting Hiccup? Who knew.

"This is where the line ends, brother," Dagur whispered, gripping his axe tighter. He cracked his neck to one side, and then did the other side as well. This was a historic moment for Dagur. He was going to kill his brother. His mortal enemy. It was going to be GLORIOUS if not a bit messy.

Ah well. He didn't have to worry about it that much. He would kill Hiccup, grab Heather, and run. He would run, towards the ship he had brought, and he wouldn't look back until he was far away enough to eliminate any risk of being tracked.

It was a _fine_ plan.

Or, it would have been, if Heather hadn't woken up at that moment, just before Dagur brought his axe down.

The first thing Heather did when she realized it was Dagur was scream. She was certain she saw Dagur's eyes flash with amusement as she screeched, but it was short lived when she tackled him.

She was shocked by his appearance, but at the same time, it's not like they had ever completely overruled the possibility of his return for vengeance. After she got over her start, she was consumed by hatred and fury.

She attacked him so quickly he didn't even have time to use his axe against her. She knocked him to the ground, coming in over him. He simply laughed, and more than ever, she wanted to kill him. She wanted to wrench the axe out of his grip and use it against him.

"HOW DARE YOU RETURN!?" Heather screamed in his face. She glanced over at the dragons, about to call to them to help her, but one look at the dragon nip surrounding them, and she knew it was useless. They were no help to her now.

Which meant she was on her own. With Hiccup as hurt as he was, he wouldn't be able to help her defeat Dagur.

Heather had her mind focused on three things:

Protect Hiccup.

Protect herself.

And kill Dagur if it came to it, which she was hoping secretly it would.

Dagur cackled. "I returned to save you!" he said pathetically. "Oh, don't glare at me, Heather! I'm here to help you! You know I am! I've always been here to help you! That's-"

Heather slammed her hand over his mouth, but as she did so, he grabbed her wrist, twisted her off him, and stood up. Heather yelped and tried to rise to a standing position as well, but Dagur aimed his axe at her threateningly.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned.

Heather thought about the words he spoke. Those were the same words Hiccup said, the day he found her and Windshear.

She thought hard for a few moments, and then, she lifted her head, blew her hair out of her eyes, and smirked. "I wouldn't either," she said smugly. Before Dagur had the chance to realize what she meant, she kicked his legs with her heel, and he stumbled backwards with a yowl of pain.

Dagur lifted his head, met her eyes, and bared his teeth. "I don't want to fight you!" he said. "I want to help you, Heather!"

Heather knew he was lying. He had to be lying. He tried to kill her. He would have killed her if Hiccup hadn't jumped in the way. She kicked him hard in the ribs, and he stumbled backwards again. "I don't want your help, you LIAR!" she shouted.

"You can join the Berserkers!" Dagur shouted. "You can _always_ join me! Heather the Unhinged has a rather nice ring to it! Heather the Maniacal wouldn't be too bad, either!"

Heather punched his jaw, wondering why he wasn't fighting back anymore. "What do you want!?" she screeched. "Fight me back!" She punched him again. She hoped all the noise would alert Berkians of Dagur's presence, but it must have been midnight, and the healer's hut was on the outskirts of the village.

Which meant that help wasn't coming.

Which meant that it was up to Heather to get rid of Dagur, before it was too late.

"Like I said!" Dagur said. "I don't want to fight you! I want you to join me! What do you have to lose!?"

Heather punched him again. "I HATE you!" she yelled. "You almost killed my brother! I never want to see you AGAIN!"

Dagur, to her surprise, broke out laughing. "Your brother!" he mocked. "Your brother doesn't care about you! Blood means _nothing_ , Heather. I proved that when I killed my father!"

"SHUT UP!" Heather yelled, dropping another harsh slap onto Dagur's face. Dagur took a step backwards, avoiding her next punch. "You're a liar, Dagur!" Hiccup proved how much he cared about Heather when he jumped in front of Dagur's knife. He proved it ten-fold. "I will never join you! I will never listen to ANYTHING you have to say!"

She was about to grab the dagger on her belt, remembering that she did indeed have a weapon and that she could use it, when Dagur suddenly advanced on her, holding the axe dangerously close to her throat. She stumbled backwards, but he raced forward, grabbing her wrist as she reached for her knife.

"We could be a team," Dagur said, his voice low, the axe blade almost pressing against her throat. "Me and you, you and I...we will be unstoppable. This is your last chance, Heather, or you'll end up like your brother by the end of this. I'll run you through, not kill you, and then, I'll kill him, right before your eyes with you being helpless against me. And then I'll kill you. What shame. Coming back to the island of your birth to be murdered on the same island. It sounds just like it was meant to be, doesn't it?"

Heather wanted to fight back. She wanted to punch Dagur right in the face yet again and be done with him, maybe use his axe and kill him even, but now, he had her backed against a corner, threatening her with the life of her brother and her own life as well.

One wrong move...one little slip, and he would kill her and Hiccup without so much of a second thought. She didn't want Hiccup to die, and truth be told, she didn't really want to die, either.

But she wouldn't give in. She wouldn't go with Dagur. If she went with him, chances were, he would kill Hiccup anyway, in the end. She couldn't live with herself if she knew she was the reason Hiccup was dead.

She would have to try and fight, even if it was suicide.

Just before she raised her foot to kick Dagur's ribs and flee, she heard something odd. The sound of something whizzing through the air, and then, a sickening, wet _thump._ Dagur's body went rigid for a few moments, and Heather's breath caught in her throat.

Then, Dagur screamed. He spun around, releasing Heather in the process, clawing madly at his shoulder. "OWWWW!" he screeched. "OW OW OW OW OW! WHAT THE-!?"

Then Heather saw it: a knife embedded in Dagur's shoulder, blood spilling over it and rolling down Dagur's back. Heather recognized the knife: Gothi's knife. The knife she used to cut away Hiccup's bandages. Her knife, not much bigger than a dagger and a heck of a lot sharper.

And it was stuck in Dagur's shoulder.

Heather looked as Dagur continued screaming, and she saw Hiccup, propping himself up on his elbow, one of his arms outstretched.

He had been the one to throw the knife.

He saved her.

Again.

His eyes were open, full of fury and hatred yet at the same time, relief. Heather understood all those emotions. She was _feeling_ all those emotions, just as he was. She raced towards him and caught him as he slumped forward, grabbing his shoulders to keep him from bashing his head against the wooden floorboards.

He looked ready to pass out again. This would be a _bad time_ to pass out.

"Come on, we have to go!" Heather urged. Dagur was trying to grab the dagger to rip out of his shoulder. They were running out of time. This was the perfect opportunity for them to run, but they would lose their chance if they wasted any more time.

Hiccup shook his head weakly. "You...you have...I...I gave you...an opening," he coughed. "You...you need to run…"

"No," Heather said, grabbing his arm and pulling it over her shoulder. "We go together or we don't go at all. You save me, I save you. That's the way it works."

Dagur got a grip on the knife, ready to pull it out. Heather yanked Hiccup to a stand, and although he screamed in protest, she didn't let him go. She simply wrapped her other arm around his waist, and the two of them stumbled out of the healer's hut, Dagur's screams of fury and pain rattling the night.

They had to get away from there.

Fast.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey, guys! Sorry I didn't update at all yesterday...we did some SERIOUS driving, and I didn't have my computer, and even if I did have it, I had no internet, so...yeah. I think it's funny that how since I update usually once or twice a day, when I don't update for one day, everyone kinda freaks out...eh. :D I love you all, though, seriously. Thanks for all the reviews last chapter, and I hope you enjoy chapter 8! :D ENJOY! :D**

* * *

Heather calculated that they had about five minutes at best before Dagur was pursuing them. Although Dagur was deranged, he certainly wasn't _stupid_. He would bandage his shoulder before chasing after them, of course, which gave Hiccup and Heather more time to run.

They needed all the time they could get, so Heather wasn't complaining.

"Where do we go?" Heather questioned, almost frantically. "How about the village? We could get help." Even as she spoke, she knew going to the village wouldn't work for them. Gothi's hut was isolated from the rest of the village. They wouldn't make it before Dagur caught them.

Hiccup was obviously thinking the same thing, because he shook his head. "R-Raven Point," he choked out, his voice strained and hoarse. "The forest. It's...it's our best bet."

Yes, the forest. That was a good hiding place, Heather thought. It would have to work. If it didn't...

There was no positive way to finish that thought.

"Alright, come on," she said. "Come on." She practically dragged Hiccup to Raven Point, and he offered whatever help he could, which really didn't help at all. She was lucky he was light and she was strong, or they never would have been able to do it. For the most part, Heather told Hiccup to try not to scream, since they couldn't have Dagur follow them, and Hiccup spent the entire trek clenching his teeth or biting his lip to keep from crying out.

When they finally entered Raven Point, they continued deeper into the forest until eventually, Hiccup couldn't go on any longer. When that happened, Heather found a fallen tree, which she analyzed and decided would make a good hiding place.

She lowered Hiccup to the ground and sank down beside him, crouching underneath the fallen tree. The trees that were still standing shaded them, making their hiding spot nearly flawless.

She panted, gasping, trying to get her breath back, and beside her, Hiccup did no different. At length, she whispered, "Nice going with that knife back there. Way to go for accuracy, Hiccup."

Hiccup smiled weakly. "Thanks," he said. "A bit of luck never hurts, either."

She smiled back and shook her head. After that, the two of them remained silent, listening with their practiced ears for any sign of footsteps that belonged to their enemy. So far, nothing. Heather kept her arm around Hiccup's shoulders, shaking him awake whenever he looked ready to nod off. His fever had gotten higher; the running and dragging certainly hadn't done anything to benefit his health.

Heather hoped Dagur went to the village to search for them. Maybe that way, Berkians would spot him and take him down. Then, Heather could get Hiccup back to the healer he so desperately needed. His health was spiralling downhill like Toothless did when his prosthetic tailfin was jammed.

At the thought of Toothless, Heather grew worried. She and Hiccup had left the dragons at Gothi's. Was Dagur going to do something to them, or would he leave them alone? She was leaning more towards him leaving them alone, because right now, he was probably only focused on pursuing her and Hiccup, but at the same time, she couldn't help but worry.

She didn't know what she would do if something happened to Windshear, and Hiccup would be crushed if Toothless was hurt.

Hiccup's head lolled against her shoulder, and she shook him again. "Hey," she said, "you have to stay awake."

Hiccup blinked and shook his head as if to wake himself up. "Sorry," he said quietly. "Tired…"

"I know you are," Heather acknowledged. "But if Dagur follows us, we might have to run again, and I can't carry you."

Hiccup chuckled weakly, but it died in his throat. "It would be embarrassing," he said. "My little sister stronger than me…"

"I'm not your little sister," Heather said. "We're twins, remember?"

"But I was born first."

"That is beside the point."

Hiccup sighed and rested his head on her shoulder. "I didn't know you had a point," he murmured.

"You are _beyond_ annoying."

"Shows where you got it from…"

Heather was about to say something else, but then, a twig snapping broke the silence. Her eyes widened, and she instantly began assessing their surroundings, trying to determine where the sound was coming from.

Hiccup apparently heard it, too, because he tensed instantly. "Heather-" he whispered.

"Shh, shush," she said. "Listen."

And listen he did. He held his breath, as did Heather, as the two listened carefully for any more noises that indicated someone approaching.

Just as Heather was about to call it safe, she heard crunching. She froze, and Hiccup did the same beside her. The muffled crunching grew louder.

 _CRUNCH._

Beat.

 _CRUNCH._

Beat.

 _CRUNCH._

Beat.

It could only mean one thing. Someone was walking, and walking towards them, more like. That was the terrifying thing. It wouldn't have been half as terrifying if the footsteps were getting quieter…

But they were getting _louder_ …

"Knock knock!" a voice called out, and Heather slammed her hand over Hiccup's mouth before he gasped and gave away their location. They couldn't have that, now could they?

"Knockedy knockedy knock!" Dagur's voice rang through the forest, followed by tapping that sounded as though he were knocking his fist against a tree trunk. "It's RUDE to not answer your brother, Hiccup! RUUUUDE! But then again, it's rude to stick a knife in your brother's shoulder, too."

 _CRUNCH_.

Beat.

 _CRUNCH._

Beat.

The crunches were louder, and the beats were shorter. Dagur was picking up the pace, in that case. Hiccup stiffened again, and Heather squeezed his shoulder in reassurance, although it obviously wasn't helping either one of them.

"Knock knock knock!"

His voice was _awfully_ close...

And then, suddenly, the _CRUNCHING_ sounds stopped, replaced by a hollow _THUMP, THUMP_ , and then nothing. Heather and Hiccup held their breath once again.

Dagur was standing on the tree they were crouching under.

"Broooooottthhhhheeeerrrr!" Dagur called. "Where are you hiiiidddddiiiiinnnngggg!? It's getting BOOOORRRIIIINNNNGGGG. I'm practically SNOOOORRRIIINNNGGG."

Hiccup glanced at Heather, and she glanced back. She could see what he wanted in his eyes, as plain as day: _Run. Get out of here. Run while you have the chance. Let me take care of Dagur. Save yourself. Please…_

She shook her head, making sure she remained completely silent. She hoped the message was clear: _I'm not leaving you. I'm never going to leave you._

They heard Dagur sigh. "UGH, FINE!" he shouted. "You wanna be that way, brother!? Then you go on ahead and _be_ that way! I'll find you eventually! I _will_ find you, Hiccup! And your sister, too! Oh, she will be fun to kill! She's a fiesty one, isn't she? Gave me a few bruises! Maybe I'll stab you again, and then stab your sister twice! I'll throw you both in prison, and you can watch each other die! Sounds great to me, doesn't it? Does that sound good to you, brother!?"

Hiccup and Heather held their breath, once again.

Dagur roared in fury. "FINE!" he yelled. "Two can play at this game! I will find you, brother! I _will FIND you!"_

Hiccup whimpered softly; too softly for Dagur to hear, but not soft enough for Heather not to notice. He was in pain, and Heather knew it. He kept clutching his wound, keeping his eyes shut for the most part. When he _did_ open his eyes, they were brimming with tears and full of agony.

Heather soothed him quietly, rubbing his shoulder. They heard _crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch_ of footfalls, and they got quieter and quieter until eventually, they faded altogether. Hiccup and Heather released the breaths they had been holding, gasping as loud as they dared as they tried to get their breath back.

They waited there for a whole five minutes more. The only things to be heard were the chirping of Terrible Terrors, along with the bubbling and croaking of a creek not too far from their hiding place. Every time the leaves rustled in the wind, Hiccup and Heather flinched alike, although there was nothing to fear from the trees.

"I think he's gone," Heather whispered, breaking the recently developed silence of the forest. She looked at Hiccup, and the boy nodded shakily, his eyes closed. Heather didn't know how much more he would be able to take before he simply passed out. He was already so weak, and his fever wasn't doing him any favors. In the night, she thought she could make out a small spot of blood on his clothes...

She had to get him to the village, preferably _before_ he passed out, but right now, there was no knowing where Dagur was. Dagur could have been heading to the village. Dagur could have been scouting the rest of Raven Point. There was no way to know.

"I'm going to look, okay?" Heather whispered. Hiccup nodded silently.

Heather got to her knees, crouched, and then stood up.

As soon as she did, strong hands wrapped around her neck, and all at once, she couldn't breathe. She tried sucking in air, and she tried clawing at the hands around her neck, but fighting was useless.

"Hello, Heather," Dagur growled, right in her face, squeezing her neck even tighter as he spoke. "Did you miss me?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay, guys. I have decided to start doing...**

 **SHOUT-OUTS! :D I do shout-outs on some of my other stories, but it occurred to me that I haven't done any on this story...not that I can remember, anyways. So...I think I'll do shout-outs every chapter. Or, I'll try, at least. :D Here are the shout-outs! :D**

 **WhiteWinterStar: Oh yeah. Someone needs to help them, and soon.**

 **Sophhascoconuts: We will have to see!**

 **LiviLovesDragons: Oh Hiccup...so typical. XD I'm glad you liked the chapter! :D**

 **Guest: Well, sorry about the cliffhangers. That's one thing I just can't seem to stop doing. XD**

 **Dria Haddock II: Yeah, Dagur's insane...And I'll try to update again later on, don't worry. :D**

 **Into a Fantasy: The Harper Tribe...Hiccup being falsely accused of murder...strangely, I love this idea! I know, I'm crazy. :/ Yeah, I'll totally do it! Love the idea! Thanks for the request and the review! :D**

 **MJ: Awwwww, thanks for the review! It means a lot to me. And SURE, a Modern AU where Hiccup has cancer sounds great! Not the fact that he has cancer or anything, but I'll have fun doing it! I don't know when I'll be able to do it, but I'll do it sometime! :D Thanks!**

 **LunarCatNinja: Yeah, "Uh oh" and "Dagur" go hand in hand.**

* * *

Heather couldn't breathe, and she couldn't think beyond that fact. She tried to, she really did, but it was impossible. She tried to pry Dagur's hands away from her throat, but in response, he just held her tighter. She couldn't even think about what he had said to her. The edges of her vision blackened, stars danced before her eyes, and she shut them tightly and tried to take a breath.

It was useless. Dagur was strangling her.

And then, all at once, the hands vanished, and she collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath, coughing and choking on what air she managed to drag back into her lungs. She took one deep gasp, let it out, and then took another one.

She was never going to take advantage of breathing again.

When she finally lifted her head, she saw Dagur gripping one of his hands with the opposite one. Blood spilled over his fingertips. When she turned around, she saw Hiccup kneeling on one of his knees, his prosthetic leg pressing against the ground.

He must have hit Dagur and sliced his hand.

Dagur looked at the two Haddocks and growled fiercely. Now that Heather got a good look at him, she couldn't help but realize how awful he looked. His face was pale and drenched in a fine layer of sweat. His shoulder gaulet was gone, replaced by thick bandages wrapped around it that looked makeshift and poorly used.

Heather would have felt sorry for him if he hadn't tried to kill her and Hiccup so many times over. He deserved to have that knife sink into his shoulder. Dagur stabbed Hiccup when Hiccup didn't deserve it. When Hiccup stabbed Dagur, Dagur _most certainly_ deserved it.

That was the difference between the two of them. When Dagur hurt Hiccup, he did it for the kill and for no reason. When Hiccup hurt Dagur, he did it to save the lives of those he cared about, and he went for Dagur's shoulder. Not his chest, or hsi heart, or even his stomach. He went for the shoulder, because he wasn't a monster like Dagur was. He wasn't a murderer.

Dagur smiled coldly, watching Hiccup with a sick gleam in his eyes. "Hello, brother," he said. "I thought I heard something. I never thought waiting behind a tree would bring you both out of your hiding places, but it worked."

Hiccup's eyes hardened.

Dagur pouted. "Oh, don't be like that, Hiccup!" he said, sounding way too cheerful. "You, should be _thanking_ me for not killing you and your sister sooner! Well, not that it would be easy, but I could do it, you know! I have the strength, the will, and the guts! What do you have, Hiccup? A reopened stab wound to the stomach?"

Hiccup blinked once, but then, he wrapped his arm around his stomach and winced visibly. Heather saw it clearly now; the splotch of blood seeping through Hiccup's red shirt. The blood looked black in the darkness, but it was certainly noticable. He must have ripped his stitches out through all the running and dragging earlier.

"Uh huh," Dagur said, nodding slowly. "That's what I thought. See, we're a lot alike, you and I, Hiccup."

"Oh, really?" Hiccup spat, bitterness overflowing his tone. "How do you figure _that?"_

Dagur shrugged. "We're both sons of Chiefs," he said. "Or, I _was_ the son of the Chief. Now, it's just _Chief Dagur,_ leader of the Berserkers. You could be the leader of Berk, Hiccup. Just let me kill your sister, and your father, and you'll be the ruler of the island!"

Hiccup looked ready to jump and punch Dagur, but he didn't, only because he couldn't. Heather knew how weak and sick he was. It was a miracle he hadn't fainted from fatigue or bloodloss yet.

Dagur looked disappointed. "Oh, no snappy comebacks?" he said. "No sarcastic remarks? But I _love_ those, you know, brother."

"I'm not your brother," Hiccup said flatly.

"Then I guess there's no use stalling now," Dagur said. "Here! Catch!" He whipped a knife out of his belt and threw it straight at him. Before the knife hit the boy, Heather shoved Hiccup out of the way. The knife missed them both, embedding in the trunk of the tree.

Dagur frowned. "Pity," he said. "That was my favorite knife."

Heather looked at the weapon, and then grabbed it, yanking it out of the tree and holding it out threateningly. "Leave now, Dagur," she snapped. She wanted to kill him, but she would have to fight to do that, and that meant she would have to leave Hiccup's side, and she didn't want to do that. "Leave, and we won't kill you."

To her terror, Dagur only spread his hands. "Come at me," he said casually. "I dare you."

Heather began rising to a stand to do just that, but Hiccup stopped her. "Heather, don't," he pleaded. "I...I don't want him to hurt you."

Heather understood that, really, she did, but what else did Hiccup expect her to do? If she did nothing, Dagur would kill them both. The only choice she had was to fight and hope everything turned out alright in the end.

"I know you don't," Heather said, "but I don't want him to hurt you, either."

"Aawww," Dagur said with a mocking tone of voice. "The two heirs of Berk are having a _moment_."

Heather and Hiccup glared at him. If looks could kill, the two Haddocks could have been accused of murder. Dagur only smiled in amusement and chuckled. "I'm waiting, Heather!" Dagur said in a sing-song tone of voice. "And waiting is very, very, BORING."

"You protected me, Hiccup," Heather said. "Now it's my turn to protect you. Stay down."

It wasn't as though he had the choice. Heather doubted he would be able to remain standing by himself for more than a second before collapsing, but she said none of that out loud. Instead, she took Dagur's knife, and then drew her own dagger in her opposite hand.

"So, Heather," Dagur said casually, examining one of his fingernails. He lowered his hand and then lifted his axe, looking at his reflection briefly before lowering his weapon once again, a grin covering his face. "How are we going to do this? A fight to the death?"

Heather tightened her fists around the hilts of her daggers. "That sounds good, yes," she said. "A fight to the death. Winner takes all."

"And by all," Dagur said, "you mean Hiccup."

Heather didn't like the way he worded it. If he killed her, Hiccup would die, too, probably a slow, agonizing, painful death as well. If she won, it meant that Hiccup would live, and Dagur would be the one to die.

She didn't know how much of a chance she had. Dagur had a wounded shoulder, yes, but all Heather had were two daggers, which were much smaller than Dagur's axe and a lot less threatening. She would have to be accurate. Use the element of surprise, like Hiccup did.

 _It's one of Hiccup's favorite tactics,_ Astrid had told Heather what seemed so long ago. The element of surprise. Heather would have to do that.

For her brother.

For her family.

"Alright, Dagur," Heather said, drumming the hilts of her weapons slightly before clutching them even tighter. Her knuckles were white from where her skin stretched, but she ignored it. She cracked her neck to one side, and then got ready to fight, putting herself between Dagur and Hiccup. "I'm ready," she snarled.

Dagur grinned, although his eyes betrayed it, full of hatred and pure fury. Heather imagined her own eyes looked no different. "Good," Dagur said. "I'm ready, too."

It was an unspoken rule that they had to count down from five. Heather counted mentally to herself:

 _Five…_

She thought about Astrid. The Hofferson girl was one of Heather's first friends, and Heather was happy to call Astrid a friend, too. She was glad she came across Berk, all those years ago, and she was glad she found Hiccup and her friends again.

 _Four_ …

She thought about Stoick, her father, and Valka, her mother. She felt sorrow when she thought about how she would never know her mother. She would never know the woman who gave birth to her.

 _Three_ …

She thought about Fishlegs. Truth be told, she was quite fond of the dragon geek. He was funny, but at the same time, serious when he needed to be. He wasn't annoying like Snotlout was. He was quite nice, and Heather respected that. Meatlug was really sweet, too.

 _Two…_

She thought about Hiccup, her brother, and everything he was willing to risk to save her. He would have gladly given his life for her when he took the knife in her place, and she knew it. He saved her from Dagur, and not just once, either. Back at Gothi's, he'd saved her again when he hit Dagur with the knife. He'd told her to run, to save herself.

He was willing to die for her.

Was she willing to do the same for him?

 _One…_

Heather lifted her arms and charged with a scream of fury tearing through her throat.


	10. Chapter 10

**THIS CHAPTER'S OVER 2,000 WORDS! WHOOOOOO! :D Thanks for all the reviews last chapter, and to thank you all personally, I have done SHOUT-OUTS! :D Here are the shout-outs for chapter 9:**

 **DragonGirl135: Thanks a bunch! I'm glad you like it so far! :D**

 **LunarCatNinja: Fight, fight, fight! I just thought of that scene from Aladidn where the Genie is cheering Aladdin on, and then he says, "Jafar, Jafar, he's our man, if he can't do it GREAT!" And I just got this image of someone saying, "Dagur, Dagur, he's our man, and if he can't do it GREAT!" XD**

 **MJ: I know, seriously, Dagur! Leave Hiccup and Heather alone! I'm pretty sure I'm going to call the story you requested "Waves of Gold". I like picking the names for requested stories prior to writing them. :)**

 **One-Crazed-Up-Dragon: What a coincidence! I can't wait to WRITE more! :D**

 **WhiteWinterStar: I have a dramatic flare. Bwahahahahaha. XD I'm glad you like the story! :D**

 **Twilightandpercyjacksonlover30: Thank you SO MUCH! :D YOU are brilliant! :D**

 **Dria Haddock II: Yeah! Go Heather! She's amazing...:D**

 **LiviLovesDragons: We will have to see whether or not I kill Heather!**

 **Hiccupandtoothless294: That is for me to know and for you to find out. He he he...**

 **Toothless801: Thanks SO MUCH! I always love seeing your reviews come in. ANY reviews, really. I'm glad you loved the countdown scene. That was fun to write. :) I love writing about Heather. This is the first story I've actually included her in, from what I can remember...yeah, I think this is the first one. It's good to know that you think doing a good job. :D**

 **pens-are-mighiter-than-sords: Thanks! I know, I wanted Heather and Hiccup to be brother and sister, too! Well, I guess that kinda goes without saying...haha. :D**

 **thearizona: Vikings are VEEEERRRRY heavy sleepers. *nods very, very slowly* Haha, sorry, I'm weird. :P I'm glad you like my stories so much! :D**

 **LissanFuryEye: Ooooooh, Dagur's gonna PAY, alright. Even if I have to do it myself! I will enroll angry fangirls from all over this site and we will go to TOWN on that deranged maniac! *grabs axe* AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!**

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Heather charged, and soon after, Dagur did the same. They ran at each other, Dagur raising his axe over his head.

Heather studied him closely. _Use the element of surprise,_ she told herself. _Do something he won't expect. Use a feint on him._ As she ran, she raised one of her knives, making it look as though she were going to throw it into Dagur's other shoulder. Instantly, Dagur raised his axe to defend that area, and Heather ducked beneath his axe and slashed at his arm.

Dagur yowled, and Heather had a few extra moments to recollect her wits and plot her next move. He would now expect another feint attack from her, which meant that now, she had to take a direct approach. A direct approach, maybe pretend to feint, and then strike.

Dagur ran at her again, and she decided to put her plan into action. She went for his legs, and just like she thought, he raised his axe to protect his chest. She slid between his legs, sliced both of his calves with her daggers, and jumped to her feet as Dagur screeched again.

They were right back where they started, with Heather between Dagur and Hiccup. She stole a glance over her shoulder at her brother, just to realize he was unconscious. The splotch of blood on his shirt seemed bigger…

She didn't have time to think about it, because the next thing she knew, she was parrying with Dagur again, holding her knives in an X and pressing them against Dagur's blade. Even with his wounded shoulder, Dagur was stronger than she was. If Hiccup hadn't hurt the maniac, Heather would have already been dead.

The bloodloss Dagur had suffered from the stab-wound was making this fight more even. If Heather could just get rid of his axe and use it for herself…

Dagur swung his leg and collided it with her knees. Her feet disappeared from underneath her in one terrifying moment, and the next thing she knew, Dagur was raising his axe again for the kill.

But not to kill _her_.

His axe was over Hiccup.

She sprang to her feet and threw one of the daggers at Dagur's hand. Just as he was about to bring his axe down, the knife slashed his arm. Heather's throw wasn't as accurate as Hiccup's, but the gash was enough to make Dagur fall back, his attention refocused on her.

Unfortunately, her throwing the knife meant that she only had one left to defend both herself and Hiccup with. Hiccup wouldn't be able to defend himself. He was unconscious, and even if he wasn't, there was no way he would be able to move, let alone fight for his life.

As Dagur went for Heather, Heather stepped backwards. She had to get Dagur away from Hiccup. If she did that, then at least Hiccup would be safer than he would be with Dagur right next to him, constantly trying to kill him.

However, Dagur saw what she was trying to do, and he raced back towards Hiccup. Heather chased him, running faster than he was running. She tackled him and knocked him to the ground.

As if on cue, it started raining. The dark clouds poured down their fury in large raindrops that splashed against Heather's head and body, soaking her from head to toe in a matter of seconds. Water rolled down her face and into her eyes, and she blinked multiple times to clear them.

Thunder rolled overhead, and Heather managed to recollect her second knife in time to defend herself against Dagur once again. Dagur swung his axe, she deflected his blow, but then, he slashed again, this time managing to slice her arm. It wasn't a very deep gash, but it was enough to cause pain. Heather cried out quietly, looking at her arm.

The blood was being washed away by the rain, but she could still see how bad the wound was. It wasn't dangerous or life threatening. Just painful. Very painful. _Extremely_ painful.

Then, Dagur kicked her. She fell to the ground, smashing against the dirt that was turning quickly into mud. Spots danced before her vision whenever she opened her eyes, and it was tempting to just close them and leave them like that forever.

She heard footsteps, and she could imagine Dagur standing over her. She imagined his smile. His sick, sick, sick smile, smug as ever, as he gloated over his victory and bragged about it right before killing her.

"I told you, Heather," he said. "That was your last chance back there to join me, and you refused. For what? A brother that won't survive anyway? A family that never wanted you?"

Heather lifted her head off the ground, her hair decorated with splotches of mud, her arm covered in blood. There was another gash across her cheek that she inherited when she hit the ground, and blood dripped off her cheek.

"Did you ever realize, Heather, that they _stopped_ looking for you?" Dagur asked casually, although Heather could see the hatred burning in his eyes. "They didn't love you enough to actually _keep_ looking until they found you. They gave up, like cowards. You don't need them. You could have joined _me,_ Heather."

"I…" Heather spat mud out of her mouth, "will _never,_ ever, in a million years, join you."

Dagur frowned. "Well, I'm not asking you now," he said. "You had your chance, and you gave it up. It's too late for you, Heather, just like it's too late for Hiccup. I'll kill you both, you know. And it won't be hard." He lifted his axe, raising it over Heather's head. "Now then," he said. "Let's finish this, shall we?"

Heather saw everything in slow motion. Dagur began bringing his axe down, and as he did, Heather threw one of the daggers, aiming straight for his chest. The knife shot through the air…

With a sick, wet, _thunk_ , the blade met Dagur's chest, slicing through his skin and sinking deep into his heart. He was still bringing his axe down, and she just barely managed to roll out of the way before it sank into the ground.

Her vision returned to normal pace, with Dagur standing. He blinked once. He blinked twice. Then, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed, blood covering his chest.

Dead.

There was no doubt about it. Dagur was dead. Dagur was gone forever, ripped out of the lives of the Berkians and never to return. Dagur was gone. Dagur was dead, and Heather was the one to kill him.

She wasn't a murderer, she had to remind herself. She was protecting herself, and protecting her family…

Oh Thor.

 _Hiccup_.

She propped herself up on her arms and dragged herself towards her brother. She felt weak. With luck, no broken bones or bruised ribs, but still, she was exhausted. The rain poured from the clouds, soaking the ground.

"H-H-Hiccup," Heather gasped out as soon as she got to her brother's side. She felt his forehead again. He still had a fever, his body burning with it, but at the same time, he was shivering visibly, shaking from chills with his teeth chattering. His face was alarmingly pale, his hair soaked with cold rainwater.

Heather knew she had to get him back to the village. He was still bleeding. There was no doubt about it now: his stitches had been ripped open. It was too much for him. He'd lost too much blood...it was a miracle he stayed awake for as long as he did.

But she still needed to get him back to the village, or their victory would be short-lived.

She patted his cheek in hopes of waking him. "Hiccup," she said. "Hiccup!" She shouted when he didn't answer her, and even after that, all he did was murmur incoherently in his unconsciousness and toss his head.

At least it was working.

"Come on…" she growled, grabbing Hiccup's arm and forcing him into a sitting position, pulling his arm around her neck and shoulder. "Come on, Hiccup…"

She pulled him into a standing position with difficulty, fighting to keep him up and herself up at the same time. Hiccup's eyes jolted open, but all he did was whimper quietly in pain and bury his face against Heather's shoulder.

Lightning struck overhead, and the rain grew harder.

"Come on, Hiccup," she commanded. "Come _on_."

She began dragging him, and he limped with what little strength he had left, trying to help her in any way he could. Heather didn't even give Dagur's body a final glance. The only thing she was focused on was getting Hiccup to safety.

Her legs felt like straws, weak and feeble, ready to give way at any moment, but she forced herself onwards. She lived alone for three years. She wasn't about to give up now, after everything she went through. She fought Dagur and beat him. She wasn't going to die now.

She wasn't going to let Hiccup die now, either. She was too stubborn to let that happen, and so was Hiccup. He wouldn't be taken down so easily. Never in a hundred years.

She continued dragging him, yelling at him to stay awake whenever he looked ready to nod off. Thunder rolled, lightning crashed, and she continued on.

She thought about going to the healer's, but nobody was there that could help Hiccup, so she went to the next closest house on the outskirts of the village. She didn't care who answered the door or whose house she barged into, even. She needed to get indoors before she fainted. That was all she was focused on.

As she limped towards the first house, Hiccup stumbling, only half-conscious beside her as she pulled him on, she noticed a stable beside the house. The dragon inside it cooed at them, and something about the sound was...familiar, although Heather couldn't completely put her finger on it. The house looked rather familiar, too, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

It was a house. It was shelter. There was a lit candle in the window, which meant that there were people inside that could help her and Hiccup. She dragged herself and her brother to the front door and kicked it twice. She wanted to yell and holler for help, but she found that she couldn't make a sound over a hoarse whisper. She just hoped the kicks were loud enough to be heard. She was going to pass out any moment now…

The door opened, and when Heather lifted her head, she saw Astrid staring at her, the blonde's eyes wide and terrified.

"Astrid," Heather croaked.

Then, Heather's eyes rolled back in her head, and she hit the ground like a stone.


	11. Chapter 11

**HELLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOO EVERYBOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDYYYYYYY! Didja miss me? :D I know, I just updated this morning, but...BUT I CAN'T STOP MYSELF! *Hiccup's voice* I just see a story and I just gotta...UPDATE IT. You know. It's...it's WHO I AM, GUYS! :D That, and a cliffhanger freak...there's no forgetting the cliffhanger part, BECAUSE I LEAVE YOU GUYS ON ONE EVERY SO OFTEN! :D So, here are the shout-outs for chapter 10! :D**

 **Tangled4ever: I'm not going to kill them yet if that's what you mean...**

 **WhiteWinterStar: Hmm...it's hard to say. You never really know with Berkians. Dagur kinda had it coming to him...**

 **Dria Haddock II: Yeah. Whoa.**

 **BraveDragonof214: Well, at least he went down. I've been wanting to take him down for a while now.**

 **thearizona: Haha, yeah, I know what you mean. Ding dong, Dagur's gone! Ding dong, Dagur's gone! YYAAAAAYY! It was kinda a hard scene to write, because I was trying to figure out how to kill him and all, but I'm just glad he's DEAD.**

 **midnightsky0612 : I AGREE! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!**

 **DragonGirl135: I'm glad you liked the fight scene. It was challenging to write, so I'm glad I did good on it. :D**

 **The Princess of Derp: Aaw, thank you so much! It means a lot to me! :D**

 **ParagonNight666: Wow, thank you so much! You don't know how much reading something like that means to me. I don't even know what to say to thank you enough! :D**

 **KataraAang4eva: Astrid had better do SOMETHING.**

* * *

Astrid woke up in the middle of the night to a loud thunderclap. She bolted upright in her bed, startled by the sudden storm. Raindrops pounded against the roof of the house, and lightning crashed, flashing outside her window.

It must have been somewhere around midnight. Stupid storm. She hated storms. Just when she finally put her worry about Hiccup to the side, remembering that he would be fine with Heather with him, the storm woke her up. Go figure.

Well, no use trying to sleep until the storm blew over now, so she stood up, lit a candle on her bedside table, and headed downstairs.

She set her candle at the window, and then lit a second one on the dining table. She sat on the bench, drumming her fingers against the wooden table absently, listening to the storm persist outside. She hoped the storm didn't last more than an hour or so. She was tired, and if it continued into morning, she wouldn't be able to get out to the healer's hut to see Hiccup. Her uncle would never let her go out in that weather.

Speaking of her uncle…

"Astrid? What're ya doin' up at this hour, lass?"

Her uncle, Finn, walked out of the door to his own room and sat across from her on the table. Since the Flightmare incident, Astrid had been living with him. Her aunt was still trying to find the edge of the world, and Astrid's parents had gone with her aunt, so she was left with her uncle.

She wasn't complaining. Finn was a good man, and he loved Astrid like she was his own daughter, not just his niece. She enjoyed his company, too. Even though he had been frozen by the Flightmare once and called a coward by the village for years, ever since Hiccup and Astrid led the Flightmare away from Berk, things had been different. Now, Finn and Astrid were both called "Fearless", just like Hiccup had called all the Hoffersons that day.

"I couldn't sleep," Astrid grumbled, resting her arms on the table and putting her head on them. "Stupid storm. It's too noisy."

Finn nodded. "Aye, that it is," he said. "But ya should really think about gettin' some rest, Astrid."

Astrid sighed. She knew her uncle was right; he usually was, and he made a good point. She was tired. She was really tired, and really worried at the same time. Now, with the storm going, she was thinking about Hiccup. Was he awake, too? Was the storm keeping him up? Was he in pain?

She shook her head. She couldn't think about Hiccup being in pain. "No, I'm fine," she said. "I'm just going to wait until the storm blows over." _So I can check on Hiccup,_ she added silently.

"I know yer worried about Hiccup," Finn said as if reading her thoughts. "But I'm sure he's fine, lass. He'll be back on his feet in no time. Erm, that is to say, _foot_ , I suppose."

Astrid exhaled sharply through her nose and smiled faintly at her uncle's joke. "Hardy har har," she said.

"Now yer startin' to sound like Hiccup," Finn said.

Astrid was about to open her mouth to say something else, but then, there was a muffled knock at the door. It didn't even sound like a knock. It sounded like...kicks, oddly enough, although Astrid didn't have the faintest idea of why.

"Who could that be?" Finn wondered out loud, watching the door with confusion and curiosity both at once. "At this time of the night? In this type of weather?" He got ready to stand, but then, Astrid beat him to it.

"I'll see who it is," she said. "If it's Snotlout, I'll get rid of him."

Finn nodded and sat back while she made for the door. She grabbed the handle and swung it open, ignoring the ice cold wind that hit her face as soon as she opened it. She lifted her head to look at who had been knocking, and what she saw made her heart skip a beat.

Hiccup and Heather stood on the porch, and if that wasn't shocking enough, the state they were in did it all. The front of Hiccup's shirt was covered in a large splotch of blood, and there were gashes on Heather's arm and cheek that were deep and still bleeding. Heather was covered in bruises and mud, and Hiccup didn't look any different. They were both pale and soaking wet from head to toe.

"Astrid," Heather gasped.

Before Astrid even had the chance to reply or ask what in the world had happened, Heather and Hiccup collapsed, hitting the ground like dirt bags.

There was a beat.

And then, Astrid shouted, "Hiccup! Heather!" and crashed down beside the two unconscious youths. Her hands hovered over them uncertainly, and then, she looked over her shoulder at her uncle. "FINN!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

There was no need to call for him, for her uncle was already on his feet and racing towards her. Instantly, he gripped Hiccup under his arms and began pulling him inside. "Get Heather in here, Astrid!" Finn demanded, and Astrid did as she was told, grabbing Heather's arms and hauling her inside.

"What do we do!?" Astrid asked, despite herself, panicked. She had never seen Hiccup look so pale, and Heather didn't look all well, either.

"I'll take care of them, you go get Gothi!" Finn shouted at her. "GO!"

She remained frozen for another split second, and then, she turned and ran. She ran out the door and raced towards Gothi's hut, hoping the elderly woman would be there. There was no telling where Gothi would be. For all Astrid knew, the village healer could have been half way across the island taking care of...whoever.

She swung the doors open. "Gothi!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "GOTHI!"

There was no response, and just before Astrid was about to leave, she took a look about the establishment.

Toothless and Windshear were unconscious in the corner of the room, dragon nip surrounding them. Astrid raced over, grabbed the nip and threw it outside with more force than necessary. The dragons were unharmed, and for that, Astrid was grateful.

But then she turned around and looked at the floor. There were splotches of blood, covering it, along with a knife that was also soaked with blood. Astrid looked about the room, wondering what could have happened.

Was it Hiccup's blood? Heather's blood? What happened here?

Then, as she looked on the floor, she saw a shoulder pad, surrounded by blood and gauze. She kicked the gauze aside and studied it carefully, lifting it to examine it in the faint light cast by the moon.

A single bolt of lightning struck, and in that one little flash, Astrid saw the crest on the shoulder pad, and she dropped it with a small shriek.

A Skrill.

A Berserker.

It had to be Dagur. It just _had_ to be. Astrid didn't think he would bring his entire fleet and leave them all somewhere else. The Berkians would have noticed an entire fleet by now.

Dagur must have come alone, to hurt Hiccup and Heather, then. Astrid still felt like there was a piece of the puzzle she was missing, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

She wrapped the shoulder pad in a thick piece of fabric, and then raced back out the door.

Just to crash headlong into Gothi on her way out. The short-tempered elder of the village glared at Astrid, and Astrid quickly regained her composure. What luck, running into Gothi.

"Gothi!" Astrid gasped. Now that she was speaking, her voice betrayed just how terrified she was. If Dagur was still on the island… "You...you have to come with me! Hiccup and Heather...they...they were attacked! They're...they're at my place, but...but they're hurt!"

Gothi's eyes widened, and her mouth opened in a quiet gasp. Then, she nodded, turned, and headed towards Astrid's house. Astrid had no doubt the woman knew where it was. Gothi knew the village like it was the back of her hand. She certainly was old enough to have passed each and every house at least a hundred times. At _least_.

Astrid followed her closely. She wanted to go get Stoick and warn him of Dagur's possible presence on the island, but at the same time, she wanted to get back to Hiccup, and she wanted to see the extent of Heather's injuries. She wasn't as worried for Heather as she was for Hiccup. Heather seemed less injured.

Hiccup, on the other hand…

Gothi entered the house as soon as they got there, and Astrid followed in pursuit. Hiccup and Heather were both lying on blankets with a rolled up one underneath their heads and another blanket tossed over their bodies. Heather didn't look nearly as pale as she had before, and color was returning to her cheeks, but Hiccup looked worse. He was even more pale, and Finn was pressing a rag to his forehead.

"The lad's got a fever," Finn said, rising to a stand to let Gothi take his place. "The girl's fine, though. I put some salve on her gashes. No risk of infection."

Gothi nodded. Astrid figured she would examine Hiccup first, and then look at Heather afterwards, since Heather was in a better shape than Hiccup was.

Finn looked uncomfortable and worried both at once. "I'll go get Stoick," he offered.

"Finn, wait," Astrid called back, rising to a stand. She pressed the wrapped shoulder pad into his hands. "Give this to Stoick," she said. "Tell him…" She glanced back at Hiccup and Astrid, and then looked back at her uncle. "Tell him that Dagur attacked his son and daughter."


	12. Chapter 12

**27 DIDDLY DARN REVIEWS LAST CHAPTER. 27! GUYS! THAT'S THE MOST REVIEWS I'VE EVER GOTTEN ON A SINGLE CHAPTER IN ALL THE TIME I'VE HAD FANFICTION! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! THANK YOU ALL SOOOOOOOO MUCH!**

 **Now, before we do shout-outs, I just have to say something:**

 **I just got a great idea for this story. I mean, a GREAT idea, not to brag. I think you guys will like it. We get into it in the next chapter...OH MY GOSH I AM SO EXCITED I CAN HARDLY WAIT! :D :D :D**

 **But, anyways, enjoy chapter 12, and I'll update probably this afternoon. And, shout-outs:**

 **HappyPup1: Here is your update! :D**

 **WhiteWinterStar: Uh huh. Stoick's gonna be REALLY mad.**

 **Animals Rule: Wow, what a compliment! Thank you so much! :D**

 **BraveDragonof214: No, I don't have it, and right now, I don't know if I'll be allowed to get it, but if you have a deviantart account, you could probably post it on there and I could see it. Thank you for doing that! I think it's really sweet and THANK YOU! :D**

 **KataraAang4eva: WHOA WHOA WHOA! So demanding! XD I'll update maybe up to two or three times today if I can. I'm so excited for this story. :)**

 **hiccupandtoothless294:mYes I did and he DESERVED it! :)**

 **LunarCatNinja: Thanks! Killing Dagur was actually pretty fun. :D**

 **Izi Wilson: Thank you for all eleven of your reviews! :D I smile every time I see one. :D**

 **JanessaVR: Aah, yes. *tosses head and rolls eyes in annoyance* Those Berkians _ARE_ MORONS.**

 **midnightsky0612: That just about sums it up. :)**

 **Shizuku Tsukishima749: Thanks! You rock on, too! :D**

 **thearizona: Ah, yes. Dagur's dead body. Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like that scene. I liked writing it. :D**

 **Dria Haddock II: I will come with you and your Night Furies! *mounts Changewing* INTO THE GREAT BEYOND!**

 **Twilightandpercyjacksonlover30: Awww, thank you so much! YOU'RE brilliant! I never know how to respond when someone compliments me...like, NEVER. And you're welcome! I like doing shout-outs. :) And could you imagine what Stoick would do to Dagur if Dagur were still _alive?_ Oooooh boy...I _miiiiiiiggghhhhttt_ do a HTTYD2 AU following this AU, but I don't know when it will be. It'll be way into the future, probably, but I'll keep it in mind. :)**

 **SeaFeudJagger: Oh yeah. Stupid Dagur. HE SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT HIS FLEET. And yeah, I liked bringing Astrid's uncle back, since, like you said, we never actually were told that he was killed. And we don't really see any of Astrid's other family, so...yeah. Thanks for the review! :D**

 **Mylittlefangirlworld: Heeeeeey, you got an account! Awesome! :D I'm glad you like the name of the story! :D And...I counted 22. XD**

* * *

They were lucky Hiccup was too out-of-it to feel Gothi restitching his wound, Astrid thought. She didn't think she could handle listening to him scream in pain. Gothi wrapped his wound again, the gauze over the stitches, patted his head, and then went to see Heather.

Gothi wrapped a thin layer of gauze around Heather's forehead and then wrapped her arm as well. While she did that, Astrid took the cloth off Hiccup's forehead, soaked it in a basin of water, and then took to dabbing his face and neck in order to stop his fever from getting any higher.

"Hmmmnngg...wh...what, happened?" Heather groaned. She pressed two of her fingers against her forehead, and then, all at once, she bolted into a sitting position. "What happened!?" she shouted. "Where's Hiccup!? Where are we!?"

"Hey hey, Heather!" Astrid said. "You're fine! Both of you are fine! You passed out on my porch nearly twenty minutes ago. But you're taken care of. Both of you."

The terror and panic left Heather's eyes, but the worry remained. "And Hiccup?" she asked, although it was more of a statement than a question. "Where's Hiccup? Where is he?"

Gothi stepped to the side and headed to the kitchen for whatever reason, giving Heather a clear look at her brother, and Heather gasped quietly at the sight of him, looking as though she wanted to say a thousand things and yet couldn't find even one word to speak.

"He's alright?" Heather asked at long last after nearly a full minute of simply staring at Hiccup, her voice shakier than Astrid had ever heard it before.

"He's alright," Astrid assured her. She brushed Hiccup's bangs off his forehead, re-wet the rag, and let it continue its job of keeping Hiccup's fever down. "You were both pretty beat up when you got back...what happened, Heather?"

Heather's stiff posture relaxed, and she scooted backwards, leaning against the wall. "Dagur attacked us," Heather said, "at the healer's place. He...he tried to talk to me, tried to bring me to his side, but...but I wouldn't listen."

"Good for you," Astrid said with relief.

Heather nodded silently as if oblivious to what Astrid had commented. "Dagur almost killed me," she said. "He almost killed both of us. He had me backed in a corner with his axe at my throat."

Astrid blinked once. "How'd you get away?" she asked. "I...I went to the healer's hut earlier...there was blood on the floor…"

"Dagur's blood," Heather stated in a nonchalant tone of voice, almost as if it were as easy as saying _Pass the salt._ "Hiccup stabbed him in the shoulder from behind with Gothi's knife to save my life. After that...while Dagur was screaming his head off, Hiccup and I ran for Raven Point." Heather looked down at her hands. "I should have killed him right there," she said. "I shouldn't have wasted any time. I should have been done with him there…"

This was part of the story that Astrid hadn't heard yet, and she tilted her head sideways. "What happened?" she asked. "Where's Dagur?"

Heather swallowed. "We hid for a while," she said. The fact that she refused to answer Astrid's second question did not go unnoticed, but Astrid didn't mention it. "We hid underneath a fallen tree, and Dagur came looking for us...we thought he left, but as it turned out, he was just hiding, waiting for us to come out of our hiding spot. And...he almost strangled me."

Astrid gasped.

"Hiccup saved me, though," Heather assured the Hofferson. "And after that...I fought Dagur. Hiccup passed out from bloodloss…" As she spoke, she glanced at her brother sadly. Then, she looked back up at Astrid. "Dagur said a fight to the death, and I...I agreed. Or something like that. I can't remember anything very vividly except being terrified."

Astrid's eyes widened. She knew where this was going, and she wasn't sure she liked the direction it was heading in. "Heather-" she began slowly.

"I killed him, Astrid," Heather growled, clenching her fists. "Dagur is _dead_. And he deserved it. I don't care what Hiccup said about the village he killed being my kidnappers. They were still people, Astrid. And Dagur killed them all. _He killed them all_. He deserved to die, even if it wasn't self-defense. I would have killed him either way. He deserved it. _He deserved it_."

Astrid didn't like this side of Heather as much as the sweet, innocent side. The more she got to know Heather, the more right Hiccup's words became: _She was so...sweet, and now she's so...edgy._

Astrid didn't think she liked "edgy" anymore. It was becoming almost scary. Sure, she knew Heather was defending herself, and Astrid wasn't completely upset about Dagur's death although she _was_ a bit shocked by the news, but at the same time, the tone of Heather's voice was what made everything she was saying ten times more unsettling.

"Heather," Astrid tried again.

"He deserved it!" Heather shouted. Her eyes were full of hatred, and it was almost terrifying. "He deserved to die! He killed an entire village, stabbed my brother, and tried to kill us multiple times! He DESERVED it, Astrid! I was giving him JUSTICE! I was _DOING THE RIGHT THING!_ "

She sounded as though she were trying to reassure herself at this point, shouting as if she couldn't hear properly and needed the message driven through her own skull. Astrid watched Heather, her fingers combing through Hiccup's hair in case he woke up due to Heather's shouting.

"Heather," Astrid said, her voice a small whisper yet firm at the same time. "Stop."

Heather was breathing heavily as it was, her eyes narrowed. Then, all at once, her eyes softened, her face overwhelmed by terror for an unspoken reason Astrid couldn't figure out. Heather's stiff posture relaxed, and she shut her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Astrid," she said. "I...I-I don't know what came over me-"

"No, I get it," Astrid said, surprised by the calmness of her own voice. "You're scared. You're hurt. You feel torn in two, I understand that."

"I...I don't think I should have killed him," Heather whispered. "I...I should have just knocked him out and brought him back to be put in prison-"

"Even if you did do that," Astrid said, "with how much Dagur did to you and Hiccup, we probably would have executed him anyway. You were defending yourself, Heather, that's all. You were defending yourself, and defending Hiccup."

There were a few moments of silence. Gothi returned from the kitchen with a plate carrying three cups, one of which she gave to Heather, another one of which she presented to Astrid, and the third one she set down next to Hiccup. Herbal tea, Astrid realized after taking a small sip of it. Across from her, Heather sipped it as well.

"Thank you, Heather," Astrid said, breaking the quiet of the house.

Heather looked in her direction. "For what?" she asked.

"For keeping him safe," Astrid said, glancing down at Hiccup's unconscious, pale face. "And...I think you did the right thing, if you ask me. Dagur was a murderer. He killed his own father, and that alone deserved death. He also killed your village, even though they were your kidnappers. And...he tried to murder you and Hiccup as well. Don't feel guilty about what you did, Heather. You were doing the right thing."

Heather glanced down at the floorboards. "It doesn't feel like I did," she said. "I...I feel like I've done something...something terrible. I never thought I would feel like this. All I did was give Dagur what he had coming to him."

Astrid nodded slowly.

"Would you have done the same thing if you were in my position?" Heather asked.

"How did you kill Dagur?" Astrid asked.

Heather looked confused by the question, but she answered regardless. "Knife to the heart," she said. "Why do you ask?"

"Well," Astrid said, "in that case, I wouldn't have done the same thing. I would have made his death slow and painful. One slash for every tear he caused people to shed, and one stab for every innocent person he killed. The killing blow would have been for stabbing Hiccup."

Heather looked down again.

She knew Astrid was right.

But why, then, did she feel so...so…

... _Guilty?_

* * *

 **Guys...can I say something? Okay. I don't understand why some Hiccstrid shippers get really mad at Heather. I mean, Heather isn't trying to** _ **break up**_ **Hiccstrid, or anything. There isn't ANYTHING going on between Hiccup and Heather.**

 **I mean, when Heather asked Astrid, "So, you two are a** _ **thing**_ **, right?" she wasn't jealous. If anything, she seemed** _ **happy**_ **for Astrid, especially when Astrid tried to deny it. She wasn't jealous of Astrid. It was simply a friend talking to a friend.**

 **I don't ship Hicceather (Heathcup? WHAT!?), and I really don't hate Heather. I think she's a good character, and I like the fact that she isn't jealous of Hiccup and Astrid. If anything, she's happy for them.**

 **Sorry, I just felt the need to say that. I don't know why. I'm weird. :P**

 **And as for this fic goes, with the new idea I got, I might even go over twenty chapters! I MIGHT GO OVER 20 CHAPTERS, GUYS! Frickfrackpaddywhack, I am excited! :D :D :D**

 **I might do a HTTYD2 rewrite following this AU, but I won't do it for a long time. However, I might consider doing a few of the Race to the Edge episodes and writing them as though they took place in this AU. I don't know, though. Thoughts? :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Sooooo.**

 **Here we are again. Chapter 13 is rolling into place. I'm pretty sure it'll end on a cliffhanger...no, I'm pretty POSITIVE that it will end on a cliffhanger, but hey, you never know with me...**

 **Okay, maybe you do, but STILL! :D So, as promised, here are the shout-outs for chapter 12:**

 **Lightclaw's Shadow: Thanks! I like knowing what everyone thinks. :D**

 **in the name of the nightfury: I think I might do a few episodes and MAYBE HTTYD2 in the distant future. Thanks for letting me know what you think. :D**

 **Carly Marley: Thanks! *dances with you* YAY DAGUR IS DEAD! And as far as writing HTTYD fanfiction goes, I say you should go for it. I've had my fanfiction account for almost a year now, and I enjoy it. It's entirely up to you, but I think you'd like it. It's fun for me. :D**

 **TomBoyBookGirl: Yeah, Heather has a very interesting character, and yes, I agree. She's kind of unsettling at times, but I still like her. I never hated her. :D**

 **midnightsky0612: True that! Dagur's dead! Whoo! :D**

 **Guest: Thanks! I think I just might do a few episodes, or a HTTYD2 AU with this AU sometime. :D**

 **goodowen2001: Thanks! :D I think I might. :)**

 **thearizona: Thanks! I'm already getting all these weird ideas out of nowhere for the HTTYD2 AU...I'm not even trying to think about it, and then suddenly, it's like, POP, and I've got an idea. I'll have to think a little more about it and then maybe, just maybe, write it. Thanks for reviewing! :D**

 **BraveDragonof214: Okay, awesome! I'll look at mine! Thanks! Is it under the same username as here? (BraveDragonof214)**

 **lutavero: There might be some father/son/daughter bonding, although I don't know either way. This fic is really mainly focusing on Heather. I am planning a father/son fanfiction in the future, and some of my future stories will include some father/son bonding as well. :)**

 **LunarCatNinja: That part was so funny. I did not expect Heather to like Fishlegs. XD**

 **Sara lovelymusic: Haha, yeah. I try planning things out as I go, but sometimes I use the same strategy you do: go however far you want it to go, and then you're done! Yeah, I'm hungry too. :P**

 **Oh, and I have an important question for all of you: Do you think I should bump the rating of this story up to T? It's kinda getting violent, and trust me, it's going to get worse as we go on...yeah, I think I'll move it up to T. If you think T is overkill for this particular story, let me know. :)**

* * *

Astrid opened her mouth to say something else, but just as she did so, the door swung open so quickly she thought she heard one of the hinges snap. Stoick raced through the door, freezing for a split second before he continued forward.

"Heather!" he shouted. Astrid moved out of the way instinctively, and Stoick instantly took her place next to Heather. "What happened!?" Stoick demanded. "Are you alright!? Is Hiccup alright!?"

Heather looked startled, shocked, relieved, and confused all at once. "I'm fine," she promised. "I'm fine, honestly. Just a few scrapes and bruises. Hiccup's...Hiccup's alright, but-"

Stoick hugged her tightly, and then looked back at his son. He looked beyond horrified at Hiccup's motionless, unconscious figure, and he reached out slowly and put his hand on Hiccup's head, smoothing his hair back out of his face. "What happened?" Stoick demanded.

Astrid opened her mouth to answer him, because she honestly didn't think Heather wanted to tell her father that she was the one to kill the Chief of Berserk, but before she even had the chance to get a word out, Heather spoke up.

"Dagur is dead, Dad," she said flatly. "I killed him. It was self defense," she added when Stoick turned his head in her direction to demand an explanation. "It was either me and Hiccup or him. If I didn't do what I did, Dagur would have killed us both."

Stoick looked ready to say something else, but then, he sighed and nodded. "Aye, I understand," he said. "Where?"

"Where what?" Heather asked.

Astrid was surprised at how calmly Stoick was taking the fact that his daughter killed their tribe's worst enemy, but she supposed that if she ever had a daughter and the daughter killed someone to save her own life, she wouldn't exactly blame the daughter if she was protecting herself and her family.

And Astrid was sure that if Stoick was the one fighting to the death with Dagur and his childrens' lives were on the line, he too would kill the maniac.

"Where did you kill Dagur?" Stoick clarified, breaking Astrid out of her thoughtful remorse.

"Raven Point," Heather answered. "His body's still there if it didn't get washed away by the rain."

All was silent for a few minutes. Then, Stoick spoke. "Alright," he said. "Well...we have to do something about it if it's still there."

"But what?" Astrid spoke up.

Stoick sighed. "As much as I hate to say this, we have to send his body back to Berserk."

Astrid and Heather gasped alike. Send Dagur's body back to his people? If what Heather said about stabbing Dagur in the heart was true, then the sight must have been pretty gruesome, and to send his body back like _that_ …

"But that's bound to start a war!" Astrid objected.

"We are already at war," Stoick came back. "We've been at war with the Berserkers ever since Dagur hurt Hiccup. We've been at war even before that as well. I think the Berserkers should consider Dagur's body as a warning they need to take into consideration."

Heather looked down and shut her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said.

"There was no way to prevent it, Heather," Stoick said calmingly, putting his hand on her shoulder calmingly. "You did what you had to do, and I would have done the same thing had I been in your position. But...all the same...we need to get the fleet ready, just in case."

"In case what?" Heather asked, although by the shaky tone of her voice she already knew the answer.

Stoick sighed. "In case the Berserkers attack," he said.

…

He didn't know where he was or even who he was for a few moments. His head felt as though someone had repeatedly bashed a hammer up against it, and his chest felt tight, like it did when Toothless was laying on top of him. He took in one deep breath, let it out slowly, and then took another.

He opened his eyes, blinking against his blurry, fogged vision. He was in his room, in his bed, but he didn't know why. The last thing he remembered was Heather dragging him somewhere, shaking him awake, and then...and then…

He woke up here? What happened? What about Dagur? Was Heather alright? Oh gods, Heather…

He bolted into a sitting position, which was a terrible idea, and he realized the blatant truth the minute he was sitting upright. He cried out and wrapped his arm around his stomach, cringing and gritting his teeth to keep from shrieking a second time.

Hiccup regretted sitting up. He really, really did. He tried laying back again, but he couldn't even do that. It hurt. Why did it hurt so much?

A moment later, footsteps met his ears, and he turned his head as Heather - his sister - raced up the stairwell. She smiled brightly at him, her eyes relieved. He studied her; there was a scabbed cut across her face that looked half-healed. When had that happened? And more importantly, _why_ did that happen?

"Hiccup!" Heather shouted, breaking the boy from his thoughtful remorse. Before he even knew what was happening, he found himself captured in his sister's tight embrace. He felt like screaming again, but he smothered the urge for fear of looking weak. He hugged Heather back, smiling to himself. He shut his eyes again. She was safe. She was alright. The cut on her face was something he would have to ask about, but at least she wasn't seriously injured.

"I-It's good to see you too, Heather," Hiccup stuttered. His throat hurt, and his voice cracked multiple times when he spoke. "Now - if - if I could just... _breathe…_ "

Heather instantly let him go, holding him back by the shoulders. "Sorry, sorry," she said. "I was…" She took in a deep breath, and then let it out. "I was just worried. You've been out for nearly two weeks."

Hiccup's brain screeched to a halt. _"What?"_

"Well, one week and four days if you want to be exact," Heather said. "You wouldn't believe it, Hiccup. We were so worried."

Hiccup blinked. A week and a half? That seemed like an awfully long time to be asleep. He hadn't even been out that long after fighting the Red Death. "What...what happened?" he asked, trying to wrap his mind around his reality.

Heather nodded. "I supposed you would ask that," she said. "See...your wound reopened. You lost a lot of blood. Gothi said that sleeping for as long as you did was to be completely normal, but that really didn't make it any more unsettling. Your fever broke three days ago, and...you...you've kind of been...just…" She paused. " _Lying_ there, like a corpse, pale like someone who...who had all the blood just...sucked out of their body."

Hiccup looked down.

"But it doesn't matter now," Heather said. "Because...well...you're awake, and you're well, right? Gothi said that she'll take your stitches out in a few more days. But she also wanted me to tell you that just because your stitches are out _doesn't_ mean you can go back to your regular routine. You still have to rest. Here, I'll get you some water."

She stood up and made for the stairs, but before she left, something flew into Hiccup's mind like a Terrible Terror flying through an open window. "Heather," he said, "what happened to Dagur?"

Heather froze in mid-step, one of her feet lifted off the ground. She put her foot down and sighed. "Dagur is dead, Hiccup," she said. "We sent his body back to Berserk last week if you want to know."

"But-"

"I know." At this, Heather turned to face him again. "I know, we'll risk a war starting, but...it's like your Dad - I-I mean, _our_ Dad said, Hiccup. We've been at war for a long time now. Nothing we do now is going to change that fact."

Without waiting for Hiccup's reply, she turned and headed back down the stairs. She was glad he was awake. She could never stress that enough. All those days while he was lying pale and feverish, unmoving in his bed were too terrifying for her to take.

At the moment, Stoick was out. Since Hiccup was brought back to the comfort of his own home, Stoick (and Astrid alike) had been spending as much time possible at Hiccup's bedside. Heather had moved into the spare bedroom temporarily until they could learn better sleeping arrangements, and she wasn't complaining.

Four days after Hiccup's condition became stable, Dagur was sent on a ship back to Berserk. If Heather did the calculations correctly, his ship would have reached Berserk days ago. So far, no response from the Berserkers, which was both relieving and worrying.

Then, all of a sudden, the door opened, and when Heather looked over, she saw Astrid rush in. The blonde's hair was bedraggled and messy, with leaves and pine needles in it. Her eyes were wide and full of fear.

Heather wanted to tell her about Hiccup being awake, but after taking one look into Astrid's eyes, Heather decided it would have to wait for a few moments, at least until Astrid gave Heather her news, whatever it might be.

"Heather!" she gasped out. "I...I need to tell you something!" The urgency in her voice was enough for Heather, dismissing the fact that it looked like the girl had run all the way here without the help of a dragon.

Heather instantly raced over towards her friend and paused in front of the girl. "What happened?" Heather asked urgently. "What's wrong?"

Astrid took a moment to get her breath back, and when she did, she instantly began talking. "We got a message back from Berserk," she gasped.

Heather's eyes widened. "What...what does it say? Who is it from?"

"It's from the new Chief of Berserk," Astrid panted. "Her...her name is Athena the Unhinged, and...and she's Dagur's sister."

Heather gasped. "Dagur's...Dagur's _sister!?"_ she blurted.

"That's not the worst of it," Astrid continued heavily. "She…" Astrid took a deep breath. "She's demanding yours and Hiccup's custody, or else...or else she's declaring war on Berk."

* * *

 **Well, I had to add Dagur's sister SOMEWHERE, since we know he DOES have one ("Very...ornate. My sister had one" Dagur said in "The Night and the Fury"), so here she is! She's not canon. She's an OC. And now the story REALLY kicks off...**


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry if I'm updating too much, guys! I just can't help myself! I have too many ideas for this story and it's going so FAST...but here's chapter 14! I might update one more time later on...OH, I AM CRAZY. :D :D :D Shout-outs:**

 **HappyPup1: Here is your update! Please don't hurt me! :D**

 **ParagonNight666: Here! You can have one of my saddles for your dragon, and we will go to war! Thanks for al the encouragements, really, I mean it. Getting so many reviews makes me want to update faster. It gives me motivation. :D**

 **midnightsky0612: She might be as deranged as Dagur...her name is "Athena the Unhinged", after all.**

 **Cardfighter By Maple: Thanks! :D**

 **Toothless801: Haha! Great to hear from ya again! :D And the unhinged thing... -_- The chicken is not amused. XD Haha, I'm just joking. I come up with puns all the time. Now whether they're good or bad remains to be seen. XD And thanks for thinking the idea was awesome! I'm just going to warn you...there's another plot twist soon. Sooooooon. But shhh, no telling anyone. XD And yeah, thanks! I'm bumping it up to a very low T. I agree, it's kinda violent for just a K+, especially with Dagur's death scene and all. Thanks for the review, as usual! :D**

 **One-Crazed-Up-Dragon: Hiccstrid for the win! I love Hiccstrid. I ship it like Berserk's armada. XD**

 **thearizona: Yeah, Dagur's never been completely stable in any case...he tried to drown Hiccup when they were kids, of course, and according to Hiccup, he also used him as a target practice. Dagur's family is insane...**

 **Drew Luczynski: Haha, Fireworm gun. I salute you! :D And yeah, I didn't forget that Heather liked Fishlegs. I was just shouting out to those who hate Heather because they think she's trying to break up Hiccstrid (I do know a few people like that). Thanks for the review! :D**

 **LunarCatNinja: True that! And even if they WEREN'T at war, they wouldn't give Hiccup and Heather up ANYWAY. :)**

 **WhiteWinterStar: Yeah. Dagur's family's pretty crazy...except his Dad. He was pretty normal. And yeah, if I do go into HTTYD2, it won't be on this story. I'll finish this story, and then start a different one with the HTTYD2 AU. I'm still debating whether or not to do the HTTYD2 thing at all...I think I might do it, though. :) Thanks for reviewing! :D**

 **BraveDragonof214: Wow, that was awesome! Thank you for doing that for me, Brave! I don't know what to say! :D :D :D It's kinda cool, because I actually have a skirt that almost matches tne one perfectly, so it all works out great! Thanks again! :D**

 **Mylittlefangirlworld: Hahahahahahahahahaha! :D**

 **Mark Andrew: I don't know if I will bring the Outcasts or the Bog Bulglars into this or not. I don't think I will, as of now, but maybe in a future story. :)**

* * *

"What!?" another weak, cracked, nasally voice shouted, and Astrid and Heather both turned, shocked as they watched as Hiccup stumbled down the stairway and almost face plant the ground on his way down. He looked absolutely terrible, his hair bedraggled and beyond messy, his arm wrapped tightly around his stomach. Color had returned to his cheeks, but the rest of his face was still pale, reminding Heather and Astrid alike of just how much blood he had lost that even after a week and a half, he was still pale and sickly looking.

"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted, racing forward and slamming into him, throwing her arms around his neck and shoulders. Hiccup stumbled backwards and almost tripped, just managing to catch himself before he did. Astrid didn't loosen her grip on him, and he never told her to. He hugged her back with one arm, his other arm braced against the side of the wall. Hiccup buried his face against her shoulder, shutting his eyes, clearly content. Heather couldn't see Astrid's face, but she imagined the blonde girl looked no different.

For a few moments, Heather stood there, happy as she watched Astrid and her brother reunite with each other. Then, she took a breath and thought about what Astrid had told her.

Dagur had a sister, called Athena the Unhinged according to Astrid, and also according to Astrid, she was demanding Hiccup and Heather's custody. Heather's eyes hardened without her even thinking about it. The Berkians would give up Hiccup and Heather? Like HECK.

But that meant they were going to war. Heather shook her head. Her father would never give up her or Hiccup easily, even if it meant avoiding a war. He would fight rather than give up his offspring.

But...at the same time...

At length, Hiccup and Astrid pulled away from each other. "What...what did you say?" Hiccup gasped out.

Astrid put her arm around his shoulder blades and led him over to the bench, which she quickly sat him down on and sat next to him. Heather crossed the room and stood in front of the two of them.

"Dagur's sister is the newly appointed Chief of Berserk," Astrid explained. There was a harshness in her voice that Heather couldn't help but notice, and looking at Hiccup, she realized that he noticed, too. "She wants you and Heather, or it's war. But she's not getting you or Heather, so scratch off the first option."

"How did you figure this out?" Hiccup asked. His voice was shaky and clearly weak, but it was stronger than it had been before. Heather brought him a cup of water, which he quickly drank in one sitting.

"The ship we sent Dagur's body on returned with a note," Astrid said. "Stoick read it out loud at the Great Hall, and I was supposed to tell Heather. The note said, _Dear Berkians, you have killed our Chief. According to the message you sent with my beloved brother's body, you killed him. For payback, you must give us your heir within two weeks, or we will attack Berk. Sincerely, Athena the Unhinged, sister of Dagur the Deranged and newly appointed Chief of Berserk._ Or something like that. It's a bunch of junk."

"The note said 'heir' singular," Heather said. "Not 'heirs' means that they don't know about me. They just know about Hiccup." That didn't exactly encourage Heather in any way, of course, because her brother was still in danger.

"But if they learn that Hiccup _does_ have a sister," Astrid said, "they'll demand your custody, too, Heather. We can't risk it. We have to go to war."

"No." That one word was spoken by both Hiccup and Heather at once, and as soon as the word was out of their mouths, Astrid jerked her head in their directions, shocked and appalled.

Heather didn't want to give herself and Hiccup up, but she didn't want to see any more innocent people die by a Berserker's hands. Maybe there was another way. If she could _just think of one-_

" _WHAT!?"_ Astrid shouted. "WHAT!? NO!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'NO'!?"

"Here's the thing, Astrid," Hiccup said slowly. "Dagur...he...he was crazy. A loose canon, if you ask me. If...if his sister's in charge...and if she's anything like he was...then...we have a real problem on our hands. Berserkers...they're committed. Committed to the point where if their leader told them to jump off a cliff, they'll do it. If Athena attacks, she'll kill everyone on this island, men, women, and children alike. It'll be a slaughter."

"Who let Dagur's SISTER become Chief, anyway?" Heather questioned. Her mind was still racing. She needed to think of something.

"Well, she's his blood sister," Astrid said, still looking at Hiccup for him to finish his thought. "I suppose someone _could_ challenge her for the throne of Berserk, but...who would want to challenge Dagur's _sister?_ And what are you talking about, Hiccup? What are you saying?"

Hiccup took a breath. "What if we never told the Berserkers that I have a sister?" he said. "I'm...I'm perfectly fine with giving myself up, if it means you'll all be safe-"

"NO!" Astrid shouted. "You're not giving yourself up to ANYONE! You're such an IDIOT, Hiccup!"

"But it'll stop a war," Hiccup said, swallowing heavily. "I'm...I'm willing to do it if I save lives."

Hiccup and Astrid argued, and while they did, Heather's mind raced as she formulated a plan in her head. She thought about all the possibilities, but every single one of them ended with either her and Hiccup in the hands of the Berserkers, or Berk going into full-blown war.

There wasn't any going around it. It was one way or another.

But then, just before Heather gave up hope entirely, an idea flashed through her mind like a bolt of lightning. It struck her, and she lifted her head. It sounded stupid...no, it sounded beyond stupid. It was crazy, reckless, insane, inane, moronic, maniacal, _deranged_ …

But if it worked, hundreds of lives would be spared. The war would never break out. No one would have to die, Hiccup and Heather wouldn't have to give themselves up, and the war would be avoided entirely.

"YOU AREN'T GIVING YOURSELF UP," Astrid said, still deep in her argument with Hiccup.

"I might have to!" Hiccup shot back, although his voice was more of a pathetic whimper than anything else. "If it stops a war, I'm willing to do whatever it takes!"

By Thor, Heather didn't understand love. One moment, Hiccup and Astrid were hugging romantically, and not even five minutes later, they're screaming their throats out at each other.

She didn't have time to think about that too much right now, though. There was no time.

"There doesn't have to be a war!" Heather shouted so suddenly that both Hiccup and Astrid froze and stared at her, their eyes wide.

"What?" they asked in unison, their once loud voices reduced to a confused whisper.

Heather took in a deep breath and regained her composure. "I know how to avoid the war, _and_ keep me and Hiccup from being taken by Athena," she said. "It's stupid and reckless, but I think it will work. You guys just have to trust me."

Astrid and Hiccup exchanged glances, and after exchanging a silent nod, turned back to look at Heather. "I'm listening," Astrid and Hiccup said in unison.

Heather took in yet another deep breath and let it out through her nose. "First off," she said, clapping her hands together. "is this. If this plan's going to work, we need to get a ship ready. We're going to Berserk."


	15. Chapter 15

**So, hey guys! Thanks for all the reviews last chapter! :D Reviews make me want to update more. :D So, here are the shout-outs for chapter 14, and then we'll get on with chapter 15! :D**

 **midnightsky0612: *Dalek voice* EXPLAAAIIINNN!**

 **Dria Haddock II: Agreed! We shall attack Dagur! YAAAAAAAGGGGHHH!**

 **One-Crazed-Up-Dragon: I know, me too...**

 **LunarCatNinja: We shall have to see. Like I said, I already have this story planned out in my head. I will say that what Heather does is indeed very crazy. Just like she said it would be. :)**

 **HappyPup1: WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW THAT IS A LOT OF PLEASES! XD**

 **EmmaLennyEddie: Haha, shades. Nice. :) *puts on shades too* Aww yiss...XD**

 **ParagonNight666: Yeah, I liked the name Athena from Greek Mythology. I'm glad you like it, too! :D And you're Norse! That's awesome! :D :D I'm glad you guys all like it when I update a lot, because I really DO seem to update a lot...and haha, yeah! You're 666 and I'm 777! :D :D**

 **Angryhenry: Uh-huh! Thanks! :D**

* * *

"YOU WANT TO DO _WHAT!?"_

When Heather, Astrid and Hiccup (who needed Astrid to help support him while he walked, even though he could walk pretty well by himself) managed to get to the Great Hall, Stoick was more than happy when he heard that Hiccup was awake, and he hugged his son close and told him over and over how worried he was and how grateful he was that the boy was awake.

However, needless to say, he was less than thrilled when Heather told him about her plan, going to Berserk on a Berkian ship and everything, especially after the recent threat that just came in from Berserk.

"You heard me right, Dad," Heather said. Even after a week and a half, calling Stoick "Dad" still felt weird, but at the same time, Heather loved it. She loved knowing that she actually had a father who was protective over her and would never let anything bad happen to her.

Unfortunately, that was kind of their problem right now, too.

"I want to take a ship to Berserk," Heather continued. "It's the only way we can stop the war and keep Hiccup and me alive at the same time."

"Can't you just tell us what your idea is!?" Stoick and Hiccup demanded at the same time. They turned and looked at each other awkwardly, and Heather would have laughed at the looks on their faces if their situation wasn't so grave.

"If I tell you," Heather said, "you would never let me do it. You just have to trust me. I'll be safe, but if we want this to work, we have to leave _now_. The note said two weeks, didn't it, Astrid?"

Astrid crossed her arms angrily, which Heather took as a "yes". "I don't like this, Heather," Astrid said sharply. "You won't even tell us what it is."

"No one will die," Heather promised, looking back at Stoick. "No one. If I don't do this, hundreds of people will die. There will be more graves to be dug then there are people to dig them. We only have two weeks. We have to leave, _NOW_."

Hiccup took in a deep breath. "Okay," he said. "I believe you, Heather. If you think it's a good idea, I agree with you one-hundred percent. Although…" He glanced at Astrid and his father, "I think I'd feel a bit more comfortable if I knew what we were doing."

" _We're_ not doing anything," Heather said, crossing her arms. Hiccup was insane. Did he _honestly_ think she would let him go with her, after everything he went through? Sure, he was recovering nicely, and he had a ton more energy than he did previously, but Heather still didn't think he would be able to fight for his life and win. The thought was terrifying.

"You have to stay here," Heather said. "I want to take Astrid and our Dad with us."

"No," Hiccup said firmly in a voice that left no room for argument. "You're my sister, Heather. I'm going. Good luck trying to keep me behind."

Heather wanted to argue with him. She wanted to yell at him and demand that he stayed back, but that wouldn't do anyone any good. Hiccup had a Night Fury, and he had no problems following the ship they took.

And besides, she would feel better if she had his support, of course...

"FINE," she spat angrily. "But if you get worse, we're sending you back." As much as she hated it, there was no arguing with a guy with a Night Fury and a head harder than steel.

"Why not just take the dragons?" Astrid questioned. "It'll be a lot faster than a ship."

"Because we might be shot out of the sky if we bring the dragons in," Heather explained, although as she was speaking, Astrid's face made it clear that she already knew the reason. Heather looked back at her father, and then at her brother. "When will we leave?" she asked. "When can we be _ready_ to leave, more like?"

"When do you think we should leave?" Stoick asked.

Heather smiled, if faintly. Her family believed in her. Astrid trusted her. This was better than anything Heather had ever felt before. She just hoped her plan would work. It wasn't _completely_ flawless, after all. "Tonight," she said. "If we leave tonight, we'll reach Berserk by morning in two days. We'll take the fastest ship we can get. You can put Gobber in charge-"

"No!" Astrid, Hiccup, and Stoick cried in unison.

Heather blinked. She thought Gobber was a good choice. "Why not?" she asked.

"It's better you don't ask," Hiccup said.

"But-"

"Just _don't_."

…

The ship was ready by the afternoon, and as soon as night fell, Stoick, Heather, Hiccup, and Astrid boarded their prepared vessel. Before they left, Stoick had called another meeting at the Great Hall, discussing what they were doing and leaving Fishlegs and Gothi in charge of the village. Gothi could keep everyone in shape. All Fishlegs had to do was translate what she was saying. And Stoick also told Fishlegs that Snotlout could help if he wanted to, too.

They picked the fastest and most stealthy, packed some provisions for the journey, and then, they were off, towards Berserk, without so much of a clue as to what Heather's plan was and why it was such a secret to be kept.

Heather stood at the bow of the ship, one of her feet planted firmly on a crate while her other foot pressed against the floorboards of the ship. She looked out onto the horizon as they sailed onwards. The wind was strong against the sails, and it blew them straight in the direction of Berserk. The waves were calm, which made navigating all the easier, and for that, Heather was thankful.

"Heather."

She turned towards the voice as Hiccup walked up to her. Even if she didn't look in his direction, she knew it was him in a heartbeat. His uneven footsteps and nasally voice gave it away.

He still looked sickly, but his eyes were bright. He was obviously fully aware of his surroundings, but that didn't exactly mean he looked completely healthy, either. Heather was about to tell him that he should go and get some rest, but he interrupted her before she even started to speak.

"Could you please tell me what you're planning on doing?" he said, stepping in front of her and leaning against the edge of the boat, overlooking the ocean with his intense, practiced, analyzing eyes.

Heather sighed. "No," she said, looking down. She stepped off the crate and stood beside Hiccup, taking up the same position he was with her arms crossed over each other and resting against the edge of the ship. "You don't have to worry about it, Hiccup-"

"Yeah, but I do worry, Heather," Hiccup sighed. "This is worse than when you were attacking ships. If you're so set on being so secretive about this whole thing, then yes, I worry. There's nothing wrong with worrying for my sister."

"I never said there was anything wrong with worrying for your sister, Hiccup," Heather said. Hiccup sighed, and Heather turned away from him, glancing at the seawater below. "I just said you don't _have_ to worry. Don't feel inclined to. I can take care of myself."

"Yeah," Hiccup said, sarcasm clear in his voice. "Like how you took care of yourself when you went after Dagur alone for the first time. You know, when Windshear got caught in the dragon-proof chains and you were almost captured by Dagur? What would you have done if he'd captured you, Heather?"

"Dagur is gone, Hiccup," Heather said. "You don't have to even think about him anymore. If I can handle Dagur, I think I can handle his sister."

"But you don't know." Hiccup shut his eyes. "You _never_ know, Heather. This might go great, but at the same time, it might go...well, not so great. I don't know what you're planning, but I doubt it's completely fool-proof."

Heather wanted to protest, but then, she thought about how right he really was. "It's not fool-proof," she said. "I don't know how it's going to end up, but I'll do my best, alright? And you stop worrying. Go get some rest. You and I both know you need it."

Hiccup opened his mouth to object, but Heather cut him off once again. "I'm serious," she said. "I'm not asking you. I'm ordering you to. Go below decks and sleep for a while, Hiccup."

Hiccup sighed. "Fine," he said. "You win. Don't stay up too late, alright?"

Heather rolled her eyes. He was still so protective. "Okay, fine," she said. "I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Heather."

As Hiccup left, Heather thought about what he had said, about being worried, and at that time, she couldn't help but think.

Was he right in worrying?

And more importantly, what would happen if her plan didn't work?


	16. Chapter 16

**Here's chapter 16! We learn of Heather's plan now! GAH! :D Shout-outs:**

 **HappyPup1: WHOA! DUCK FOR COVER! THE PLEASES HAVE RETURNED FOR VENGANCE! :D Thanks for the review! :D**

 **WhiteWinterStar: I know what you mean about it reeking trouble. It's like (Tuffnut's voice) I can feel it. In, here. Or...or maybe it's in... _here_. Yeah. In my stomach. XD **

**ParagonNight666: Yeah. I'd be the viking that provides all the weapons for the Berkians to use against the Berserkers. Haha, yeah. It's hard for me to relax, especially when I have an in-progress story...I just have to update it! :D I'm glad you all don't mind, or else I'd be in trouble. XD**

 **acw28: I'll probably do it sometime in the distant future. Thanks for letting me know what you think! :D**

 **Toothless801: I know! That has to be my favorite line in Race to the Edge so far. Well, that, and Hiccup's "Toothless-Toothle, pl-plasma, BLAT!" in "Reign of Fireworms." XD You know what? Actually, I love all the Race to the Edge funny lines. There are too many of them to remember. :D Yeeessssss...you will learn of the plot twist in this chapter! I honestly hope none of you guys kill me...well, you wouldn't do that, because then you'll never know what happens, but still! :D Thanks for reviewing, once again! :D**

 **LunarCatNinja: I know. I'm so evil to Hiccup, Heather and Stoick. :(**

 **neobendium: I'm really sorry about the cliffhangers. But I think stopping is impossible. :)**

 **Sara lovelymusic: Yes, not my babies! If they do get hurt, it's my fault anyways, but nooooooooo. Stop being so secrative, Heather.**

 **midnightsky0612: Here's your chapter. :D**

 **Twilightandpercyjacksonlover30: It is impossible to know the mind of Heather! IM-possible! :) Thanks for the review! You know I love them. :D I think I'm going to make an AU sequel sometime...I'm getting too many ideas for it already, and I haven't even determined whether or not I'm going to do it! I'm crazy...:P And that's not really a bad thing, either! It means that I update all the time, which is good for you guys. :D**

 **LiviLovesDragons: We will learn Heather's plan...IN THIS CHAPTER! :D**

 **thearizona: Oh no! I have been a bad influence on the cliffhanger aspect of writing. :O I'm sorry. XD Hahaha. Heather's plan, yes! We must learn her plan.**

 **blackbluebudgie: Thanks! :D**

* * *

The wind was on their side, and the water was as well, because surprisingly enough, they managed to reach Berserk by the afternoon of the day after they began their voyage. Hiccup, Astrid, Heather, and Stoick all stood on the deck of the ship, ready to throw their hands up in surrender as soon as the first Berserkers spotted them.

Then, Berserk was in sight. The island was dark and rocky, which was a flawless comparison to Berk. The island was made up of gravel and sharp stones, but other than that, it was mostly flat. Buildings jutted out from the terrain, just barely visible from where the Berkians' ship was.

They crossed into Berserker waters. Heather was certain she noticed Hiccup stiffening, and she couldn't blame him. She shifted her weight from her left foot to her right foot, and then shifted it again from her right foot to her left foot. She was pretty fidgety and unsettled, too, after all.

But there was no turning back now. She had to make this plan of hers work, somehow, and she would make it happen. No matter what it cost her, she would always make sure she did everything in her power to make sure her small, precious family was safe.

Plus, she didn't want to see her friends die in battle, and quite honestly, she didn't want to die herself, either. She had come so close to death so many times, and it wasn't something she wanted to face again.

Berserkers suddenly shouted, "Berkian ship approaching! Hold your fire!", and when Heather looked up, she saw Berserkers on the sea stacks the ship was sailing through, each of the soldiers armed with crossbows and other weapons, some of which Heather couldn't even identify.

"They won't attack us," Hiccup whispered to Heather and Astrid, although it sounded as though he were asking a question. "They probably know by now that we got their note. They probably think we're coming to give me up to them."

Heather was about to say something, when Astrid grabbed Hiccup's forearm and held it tightly. "They'll learn soon enough that they aren't getting you," she whispered, just loudly enough for both Hiccup and Heather to hear.

Hiccup nodded, clearly uneasy about the entire affair. "What if something goes wrong?" he said quietly, glancing down at the ground briefly before looking back up at Astrid.

"It won't go wrong," Heather cut in in place of Astrid. "It won't go wrong, Hiccup, I promise."

She only hoped that it was a promise she could keep.

The crossbows were aimed at them the entire time as the ship glided through the water and towards the shores of Berserk. More armed soldiers waited for them there, and as soon as the ship docked, more crossbows were aimed up at them.

 _Okay, time to begin with the plan,_ Heather thought to herself. She threw her hands over her head, making it as dramatic as possible. "We surrender!" she shouted at the armed soldiers who looked ready to shoot her body full of arrows. "We aren't coming to fight! We got the message your leader sent back, and we're coming to talk to her!"

Heather looked at Astrid, Hiccup, and Stoick, hoping her expression got the message across to them: _Follow my lead,_ she thought silently as if they could read her thoughts. _Follow my lead, do as I do, no sudden movements, no threats...especially you, Astrid…_

After a painfully long five seconds, Hiccup put his hands over his head, as did Astrid and Stoick.

"Get off the ship!" one of the Berserkers shouted, and the Berkians didn't have to think twice before they did as he had commanded. Heather lowered the plank, and Stoick, Hiccup, Astrid, and her marched off the ship.

"We're here to talk to Athena the Unhinged," Heather said. "I have a special message for her!"

The Berserkers glanced at each other uneasily. Heather really wished they would lower their crossbows. They were making her feel uncomfortable. It would be so easy for one of them to pull the trigger on one of those weapons, even if it was accidentally…

 _No wrong moves_ , she reminded herself. _Look confident. You know what you're doing. Or, at least make them think you know what you're doing. That works just as well._

At length, the Berserkers nodded to each other, and the same one that shouted at them to get off the ship marched forward. "What is the message?" he asked. He was wearing an eye-patch over his left eye, and his hair looked as though it would take a miracle to brush out.

"The message is for Athena the Unhinged and Athena the Unhinged only," Heather said, keeping her voice firm and loud, trying to shove as much authority into it as possible. "I will tell it to her and to no one else."

Eye-Patch gasped, as did the other Berserkers behind him. "You will tell us the message first!" he shouted, his tone threatening. He pointed the crossbow at Heather's chest, and all she did was push it away with one finger.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she said warningly. "This message is important, and I am _certain_ it is something you would love to hear. My companions don't know what it is, so if you kill me, Athena will _never_ hear it, and you will have to tell her that you killed someone who was carrying a very important message."

"Heather, what are you doing?" Stoick and Hiccup whispered at the same time, and she waved her hands at them in a clear, _keep silent_ gesture.

Eye-Patch locked eyes with her, but at length, he stood back and lowered his weapon. "So be it," he said. "We will take you to Chief Athena." He motioned for them to follow him, which they did without hesitation. You didn't question someone with a crossbow.

Berserkers filed in around the Berkians, making Heather feel claustrophobic although she made no comment. She couldn't help but notice how Hiccup and Astrid's hands were clasped together tightly, and she also didn't fail to notice how worried they both looked, and how pale Hiccup looked…

Stoick was walking behind him, so there was no knowing what his face looked like, but Heather could assume. Confused, worried, shocked, worried, confused, frightened, surprised, confused, worried…

Mainly confused and worried.

Heather, her family, and Astrid were led straight to what Heather assumed was the Great Hall of Berserk. It was less than lively, with skulls of both humans and dragons mounted on the sides of the building, and more bones littering the pathway up to the Great Hall. It smelled of musk and rot, and a few of the white bones snapped beneath Heather's feet as she walked.

 _Stay focused, stay focused,_ she chanted to herself. _Remember the plan. Don't back down from the plan._

The doors were swung open, and Eye-Patch stepped inside. "Chief Athena the Unhinged, ma'am!" he announced. "The Berkians are here! Just like you said!"

Those last four words made Heather shiver.

"Bring them in!" a deep feminine voice shouted back. Eye-Patch stepped aside, and Hiccup, Heather, Astrid, and Stoick stepped forward, into the Great Hall.

Athena was sitting on her throne, which was crafted from black marble with skulls on the armrests. Athena glared at Hiccup and Heather from under her bangs, and she smiled darkly. Her eyes were a sickly green, and her hair was such a dark brown that it was almost black. She was dressed in a dark colored dress and clad in silver, gleaming, metal armor. A sword rested, sheathed on her black belt.

She stood up and approached them, her armor clinking and her black, spiked boots echoing throughout the hall. "Well well well," she said, being way too casual for the comforts of anyone, "look what we have here. My brother's murderers. So…" As she spoke, she drew her sword. "Which one of you did it?"

Hiccup opened his mouth to speak, but it was Heather who actually ended up speaking up. "I did," she said. "I killed Dagur."

Her speech instantly sent a chorus of whispers throughout the Great Hall. Athena glared at Heather, but she looked amused, and maybe that was the most terrifying thing about her.

"And you." Athena shifted her sword so that it was pointing at Hiccup. Hiccup didn't flinch, although Astrid and Stoick alike did. "You're the heir of Berk."

"Yes," Hiccup nodded. "I am Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, and I am the heir of Berk."

Athena withdrew her sword. "Very good," she said. "So, I suppose you are coming to surrender yourself to me, then?" She held her hand out expectantly.

"No," Heather spoke up, stepping forward, putting herself between Athena and her brother. "We aren't giving him up, and we aren't going to start a war. I have a preposition for you, Athena the Unhinged. You would be a coward to not take me up on this."

Everyone gasped. Including Hiccup, Astrid, Stoick, and even Athena. Athena stared at Heather for a moment, and then, she broke out laughing. If she was upset about Dagur's death, she did a good job of hiding it.

"A preposition!" Athena cackled. "Sure! And who are YOU to propose ANYTHING?"

"My name is Heather Haddock," Heather said, standing her ground. _Here it is,_ she thought to herself. _This is where your plan kicks in. Don't give up now._ "My brother is Hiccup Haddock the Third, and my father is Stoick the Vast, Chief of Berk. I said I have a preposition for you. Did I stutter, Athena?"

Athena gasped yet again, although it was clear now that she was just playing along. "Oh, certainly!" she said. "Your brother is Hiccup, and my brother is alive!"

"I. AM. HIS. SISTER," Heather yelled. "And as a heiress of Berk, I-"

Athena yawned. "Okay, okay, I get it, you have a proposition," she said absently. "What on _earth_ could you want?"

Heather took in a breath. "Athena the Unhinged," she said, "I challenge you for the Throne of the Berserkers."

* * *

 **DID YOU GUYS SEE THAT COMING!? WHOOHOO, PLOT TWIST!**


	17. Chapter 17

**18 REVIEWS LAST CHAPTER! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! :D So, I don't think this story's gonna be going over 20 chapters...it might, but I seriously doubt it. This chapter's longer than the last one I gave you all, so that's good! :D And I put the HTTYD2 rewrite in this AU on my poll, so if you want to vote for that, you can. I usually tend to write the one that gets the most votes, so...**

 **Yeah. I know a lot of you guys want that rewrite for Heather being Hiccup's sister and everything during the second movie, and I AM GETTING IDEAS FOR IT ALREADY, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!? So yeah, you can vote for it, and here are the shout-outs! :D**

 **Lightclaw's Shadow: Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. :D**

 **Shockeye7665: That's a pretty awesome request! I'll keep it in mind, and I'm really glad you like this story so far! I put a lot of effort into it, so I love seeing that people take time to read and review it. :D**

 **ParagonNight666: Hahahaha! I started reading the review like "whut?" and then I was like "Oh! It's Icelandic!" XD Thanks for reviewing! And yeah, it's true. I don't rest. There is no brakes for me. I HAVE NO BRAKES! I HAVE NO BRAKE-*crashes into computer and writes another chapter***

 **fungame2: In that case, congrats! You called it! :D**

 **WhiteWinterStar: I feel like this story has been one big drama bomb...XD And YEEESSS, I went there. :D**

 **Guest (#1): Okay, so you called it! Nice! Only a few other people did; the majority of my reviews did not expect it.**

 **HappyPup1: AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! RUN! *runs from pleases* OKAY OKAY, I"LL UPDATE! I'LL UPDATE! AHHHHHHHHHH! :D**

 **Dria Haddock II: Yeah, she's pretty insane.**

 **Guest (#2): Thaaaaannnk yooooouuuu! :D**

 **LiviLovesDragons: Haha, thanks! I love saying "Did I stutter?" :D**

 **Toothless801: *grabs sword* WE WILL DESTROY THE TOUCHSCREEN! Oh, okay, nevermind, you like it after all. XD I know what you mean about electronics being annoying sometimes. I'm always torn between smashing my computer and embracing it. I don't know. I'm weird. :P And I say that a lot, because it's TRUE. :D Yeah, PLOT TWIST! I LOVE plot twists (as everyone who has ever read any of my stories know, haha). We shall see what happens! Thanks for reviewing! :D**

 **Mylittlefangirlworld: Hehe, that's totally cool. :) Only a few people called it, and it's totally fine that you did, so no worries. I'm not upset or anything. :) I did that once in this movie we were watching, I was just "Haha, I bet he's the villain" and everyone's like "Oh no way" and then he was the villain. XD**

 **thearizona: Yeah, haha! They would totally tie Heather down! (Ahaaaahhha, I understood that referance! :D).**

 **neobendium: Aww, thank you so much! Those are quite the compliments! I actually don't know what to say, so I will settle with THAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNKKKKKK YYYYOOOOOUUUU! I always get so excited when I see a little "New Review" thingy on my email. Thank you once again! I can never say that enough. :D**

 **LunarCatNinja: It is impossible to know what will happen when I'm in charge. Heh heh heh...and yup, you called it! Congrats! :D :D :D**

 **xFaerieValkyriex: Yeah, I know what you mean. Especially since we know how Dagur turned out...eh. I would NOT want to Chief Berserk, either! XD**

 **BraveDragonof214: I do not have leave to say what will happen yet. I don't see Heather dying at the moment, though, so don't lose your mind yet! :D**

* * *

All around them, people started shouting. Berserkers yelled and shrieked and aimed crossbows at Heather, and Heather didn't flinch. She had heard of Berserkers challenging the Chiefs to take their place; Astrid just mentioned that it was a possibility the other day. If Heather was able to beat Athena in whatever they wanted her to do, then she would be Chief, and the whole war would be avoided.

Hiccup grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her roughly. "WHAT!?" he shouted. " _WHAT!?"_

Heather was about to demand he let go of her, but then, she was whirled around by someone else, and she found herself staring into her father's confused and horrified eyes. She didn't even have time to say anything before she was yanked away again and grabbed by Astrid.

"SILENCE!" Athena roared, and almost instantly, people began shutting themselves up. The Berserkers obviously trusted that their Chief would take care of Heather, because they murmured to each other and nodded in agreement.

Athena glared down at Heather. Her amusement was gone. "Challenge me?" she blurted. "No one has challenged a Chief for decades. Why so suddenly?"

"Because you are wrong," Heather shouted. "You are wrong! Your brother was wrong, murdering innocent people, slaughtering them like they were animals. He's dead, and I killed him. I don't think I'll have trouble beating you."

Athena, to Heather's anger, laughed. "We don't fight to the _death_ anymore!" she said. "It would be quite enjoyable, but after many protests from villagers, we stopped doing that. Of course, the main reason we stopped doing that is because Dagur challenged our Father to a fight to the death and won, so he became Chief. That's the main reason, and we don't do it anymore."

So _that_ was how Oswald the Agreeable was killed. Dagur wanted to be Chief, so he challenged his father to become Chief.

And he won. He killed his own father.

"We don't fight to the death," Athena went on in a casual tone. "The loser falls into a pot of sweltering hot, melted metal, but that isn't important."

Heather didn't know anything about challenges. "If we don't fight to the death," she said, "then what _do_ we do?"

Athena yawned once again. "Obviously, we have a list of competitions," she said as if she were bored. "A competition of stealth, a competition of intelligence, and then finally, a competition of sword play. That's what we do."

Heather nodded. She slapped her hand over Hiccup's mouth casually when he looked ready to yell at her. "How does it work?" she asked.

Athena looked annoyed more than anything, but there was a burning hatred in her eyes that Heather noticed and acknowledged. "Simple," she said. "You pick two of your companions to help you, and I'll pick two of my companions. Two of them will do the first competition, against each other, and then the next two competitors go. The last competition - the sword play one - is where we fight over a wooden plank raised over a pot of burning, melted metal. The first one to fall off the plank loses, obviously, because they're _dead_ , but yes, that is the only truly life-threatening one. The losing side of the contest is shamed for the rest of their lives. Shall I go on? Oh, nevermind. There's nothing left to go on about."

Heather thought long and hard. She had to pick two companions if this was going to work. Astrid was good at stealth. She could ask Astrid for help on that, since stealth wasn't life-threatening. And Hiccup was the smartest person Heather knew. He might not have been very strong as far as muscle strength went, but if he formulated a plan against you, it would not fail. Hiccup could help her and compete for intelligence, since it was also not life-threatening.

Heather would have to take the sword play over sweltering metal one.

"Okay," Heather said, nodding her head. "You have a deal."

Athena nodded. "Now, pick two companions while I pick mine," she said. "We will have our contest in...oh, let's say five minutes. I do hate being forced to wait, so don't waste any time."

"I pick Hiccup and Astrid," Heather said. "Astrid will be stealth, Hiccup will be intelligence, and I will be sword play."

"WHAT!?" Hiccup, Stoick, and Astrid yelped in unison. Heather was pretty sure it wasn't because she was dragging Hiccup and Astrid into it, but because she was taking the life-threatening part for herself.

She had to do it herself. She couldn't let her father be in danger, or her brother, or her friend. The most dangerous one went to her.

Athena nodded. "Very well," she said. "And I pick -" She glanced at the soldiers behind the Berkians. "Ivan the Unreasonable and Kakra the Maniacal. Please step forward."

Two soldiers stepped out of the crowd - a man and a woman, about Heather's same age. Kakra and Ivan. The competitors.

"Ivan will be in stealth," Athena announced, "Kakra will be intelligence, and I...well, _I_ will be in sword play."

Heather gulped and hoped nobody noticed. She would be fighting Athena the Unhinged, Dagur's blood sister. Could she handle it?

 _I'll have to handle it. I don't really have a choice._

"Okay, you're on," Heather said flatly.

Athena beamed. "Perfect!" she clapped. "Now, come, friends, to the arena! This is going to be GLORIOUS!"

…

"I don't like this, Heather. I don't like this…"

Hiccup, Heather, and Astrid stood in the Berserk Arena. Crowds cheered from above, changing, "ATHENA! ATHENA! ATHENA!" over and over and over again. Athena, Ivan, and Kakra waved and blew kisses to the crowd, cheering, "Oh, you're too kind! Oh, you're all so kind!"

It was enough to make Heather sick. She hated the affair. She hated the Berserkers' way of life.

 _When I'm Chief, I'll change them. I'll change their twisted minds and help them become who they are supposed to be._

Stoick watched them, Berserker soldiers surrounding him, crossbows aimed at him although it seemed as though the Chief of Berk hardly noticed. His eyes were fixated on his son and daughter. Heather wanted to tell him to stop worrying, but she knew that that wasn't going to work very well.

There was a possibility that she was going to die. She shook her head. _I can't die. I have to WIN._

"I know you don't like this, Hiccup," Heather said slowly in answer to what her brother had muttered under his breath, "but I know you can do it. You're the smartest person in the archipelago-"

"It's not _me_ I'm worried about, Heather," Hiccup said plainly. "I don't want something to happen to _you_ …"

Heather gave him a look that said a thousand things. "Aww, you're sweet," she said, "but I'm a big girl now, brother. I can take care of myself." She smiled, hoping it didn't look as fake as it felt. _Could_ she battle Athena and win? She hoped she could. She really, honestly hoped she could.

"Okay!" Athena clapped her hands together, her voice loud and projected. The crowds silenced themselves, and Athena continued. "NOW! Here is our referee, Knife, to give you all the rules!"

She stepped back, and a thin, wrinkled, old man stepped forward. "ALRIGHT!" he shouted. His voice seemed too loud and demanding to match his body, but Heather made no comment out loud. "The first competition is the stealth!"

As he spoke, Berserkers pushed large boulders across the arena, setting them in random places across it. Heather wondered why, but it didn't take long before she figured it out.

This part of the contest was centered around stealth. The rocks were to hide behind, obviously.

"The rules are as follows!" Knife continued. "Rule number one: if you are caught, you lose the contest! Rule number two: there is no yelling and blaming it on someone else allowed, or you will be disqualified! Rule number three: well...no killing each other! Are we all in agreement!?"

The crowds roared in a "YES" although Heather so desperately wanted to shout "NO."

"Alright!" Knife said, almost joyfully. "I will decide which is more stealthy! The contestants will now step forward!"

Ivan from Athena's side took a large stride forward. "I, Ivan the Unreasonable, represent Berserk!" He saluted, and the crowds cheered.

 _Ugh,_ thought Heather. She wanted the crowds to shut up. Did they know what their previous Chief did? Did they know how many innocent people Dagur slaughtered? Probably not all of them, if any of them…

Before she could finish her thoughts, Astrid stepped up. "I, Astrid Hofferson, represent Berk!" she shouted with power in her voice that almost challenged anyone to dare against her will.

A few Berserkers shouted "Yeah!", only to silence themselves when none of the others joined in. Astrid snorted, and Heather thought for a moment that the girl would attack Athena and the other Berserkers right there, but instead, the Hofferson simply stomped angrily and stood beside Ivan.

"Alright!" Knife said as he stood in front of the boulders. He raised his hand in the air. Heather held her breath, and beside her, she knew Hiccup was doing the same. "Get ready...get set...GO!"

He turned so that his back was towards the competitors, and Astrid and Ivan sprang into action. Ivan went slowly and steadily, making sure his footsteps were silent, and Astrid, on the other hand, leapt and jumped and jogged. Heather wanted to yell at her to be careful, but there was no need. Astrid wasn't making any noise whatsoever.

Heather was glad she picked Astrid for the stealth part of the competition.

Ivan stepped on a twig, and both the Berserker and the Berkian dove for cover while Knife spun around. Heather held her breath again. _Please, please, please don't see Astrid…_

To her relief, Knife simply turned around once again, and Astrid and Ivan continued onwards in like manner.

But then, to Heather's horror, Ivan reached down, picked up a stone, and hurled it straight at Astrid. Heather wanted to shout, but she didn't have time to before the stone connected with Astrid's hip. Astrid yelped; the stone wasn't big, but it was big enough to cause a sudden jolt of pain.

Ivan ducked behind a boulder, Astrid hit the ground, in plain sight, and Knife turned around.

"I see you!" Knife shouted. "The Berserkers win the round!"

Heather was practically steaming with anger. When Hiccup grabbed her arms, she realized that she had been marching forward to give Ivan what he had coming to him.

"Hey!" Astrid shouted. "He cheated! Ivan threw something at me!" She got to her feet and grabbed the stone. Then, she threw it at Ivan. "You CHEATER!" Astrid yelled. "I'M GONNA _KILL_ -"

"There will be no killing until the last event!" Knife said, waving his hands back and forth.

"But she's right!" Hiccup and Heather shouted both at the same time. "Ivan _did_ throw that rock at her!" Hiccup went on. "He _did_ cheat! It wasn't fair!"

"I...well, I didn't see it," Knife said, "and thereby, it does not count!"

"It was STEALTH," Hiccup yelled. "You weren't SUPPOSED to be able to see it!"

Athena fake-pouted. "Awww, looks like the Berkians are being poor sports!" she said.

Heather wanted to wring her throat so, _so_ badly.

But there was no talking the Berserkers out of it, no matter what she did.

Athena team one, Heather team zero.


	18. Chapter 18

**So this chapter's long too...IT'S OVER 2,000 WORDS, which is NOT BAD. For me, anyways. I know some of you probably enjoy a lot longer chapters, but I can only drag a chapter out for so long before I have to end it, and I usually end my chapters between 1,000 and 2,000 words...**

 **Eh, sorry, I'm being random.**

 **OH, WAIT, YES, THERE WAS SOMETHING I HAVE TO SAY! Okay, so it has been made official! THOSE IN THE HTTYD FANDOM ARE CALLED DRAGONITES! I REPEAT, WE ARE CALLED DRAGONITES! SPREAD IT AROUND! DRAGONITES UNITE! :D :D :D :D :D**

 **Okay, phew! On with the shout-outs:**

 **LunarCatNinja: YEEEES! They MUST win!**

 **ParagonNight666: NO! Don't DIE! NOT YET! XD I'm glad you're enjoying it...I never know what to say when I get compliments. I feel like a soda machine trying to accept a wrinkly dollar and it's frustrating for everyone there...eh. :D Thanks for the compliments, even though I don't know how to thank you quite enough. :D**

 **HappyPup1: AAAHHHHHHHHH! DUUUUCCCK FOR COVER!**

 **neobendium: Seriously! I HATE cheaters! Cheating is for LOSERS! XD**

 **Guest: I feel you. I think everyone reading this story is like that right now. XD**

 **BraveDragonof214: Berserkers aren't the most honest of people, I'll give them that. We shall see what happens...**

 **SavannaBee101: Thanks! I know, I was hoping they would be brother and sister, too! Well, I guess that's kinda obvious, because I wrote this one-shot and everything...:D Thanks for the compliments! :D**

 **hiccupandtoothless294: I'm glad you like Athena's design! I had fun creating her. :D**

 **Sara lovelymusic: Oh yeah. Astrid can handle herself. Let's see what happens with Hiccup...**

 **thearizona: You can have all the weapons you need to take Ivan down! I don't like him. HE HURT ASTRID. NO ONE HURTS ASTRID...AND LIVES! Just ask Hiccup, he'll tell you! Cheaters...I don't like cheaters. Thanks for the review! :D**

 **LiviLovesDragons: Please, by all means, kill Ivan! And Athena, too! I'll even give you an axe to help you on your way. :D**

* * *

"And for the next competition!" Knife called out to the crowds, who were still cheering over the Berserker's undeserved victory. Astrid was still fuming, rubbing her side, and Stoick looked ready to jump in, pick up one of the boulders, and throw it straight at the referee, but Heather knew that doing that wouldn't work.

It was up to her and Hiccup now to win the competition. Astrid would have won, hadn't Ivan cheated, and it didn't take a genius to know that.

But of course, the Berserkers were still following their own people, and although Heather understood that, she wanted them to _stop_ doing that.

And speaking of it being up to her and Hiccup…

"You'll do great, Hiccup," Heather promised, sensing her brother's worry. He looked pale, and it was clear he was tired, even though he was mostly healed from his injury, but at the same time, he looked determined. "Don't worry about it."

"Yeah," Astrid said, making it back beside Hiccup and Heather. She patted Hiccup's shoulder. "Kick their cheating behinds for me, alright?" she said with a half-fake, half-real smile.

Hiccup lowered his head, nodded, and then began walking forward, limping only just slightly.

"It's time for the intelligence test!" Knife cheered. "In this test, I will ask a series of questions! Questions that have to do with historical events, strategic battle moves, and even a few riddles of my own invention! Please, contestants! Step up!"

Kakra put her hand over her heart. "I, Kakra the Maniacal, am representing Berserk!" she cheered excitedly.

Berserkers screamed back at her, shouting encouragements and happy exclamations.

Hiccup lifted his head. His eyes gleamed in the bright sunlight, and Heather couldn't help but smile. If anyone could win this competition, it was Hiccup. Kakra didn't even stand a chance against him. "I, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, represent the people of Berk!" he shouted, raising his hand towards the sky.

A few more Berserks cheered than the first time, and they didn't cut off abruptly. Heather couldn't help but wonder: _Are they starting to realize how cheating and deceitful Athena is? I bet she set Ivan up and everything. I bet she told him to cheat. Are the Berserkers beginning to see how they don't really want her as a leader?_

 _Let's hope so…_

"Alright!" Knife said. "Are you ready?" Without waiting for the response, he began chanting: "Ready, set...GO!"

 _Come on, come on, Hiccup, you can do this...you've got this...it's all yours...come on…_

"First question!" Knife said: "a fleet of ships are sailing in a V formation. The enemy fleet is trying to attack. What is the best way for the opposing side to attack?"

"Start from the front and make your way to the back!" Kakra's hand shot in the air, and she shouted out the answer without waiting to be called on. Heather's heart sank. Hiccup missed the first question…

"I disagree!" Hiccup objected, and Heather lifted her head to watch her brother with interest. "See, the strongest ships always go in the front, leading the others in the V. If one were to attack, a better strategy would be to send a number of ships against the vertical sections of the V, starting at the tops and making their way down, that way they can take out the strongest ship without the weaker vessels to get in their way."

The crowd clapped halfheartedly, and Hiccup looked pleased. Kakra looked furious. Knife looked amused.

"Very good!" he said. He drew one tally mark in the dirt with his foot. "One point for the Berkian team."

"Go Hiccup!" Astrid cheered.

"It's all yours!" Heather shouted.

"Alright, next question!" Knife said. "This one is a riddle, so best answer it carefully! Alright, here goes...two newly wedded vikings go on a ship with many other people to celebrate their marriage. But, the ship was attacked, and every single person on the ship was killed. But, however, the next day, the SAME newly wedded couple left on a different ship. How is this possible?"

There were ten seconds of painful silence. Heather's mind raced as she tried to think of the solution, but she had nothing. Nothing at all. She didn't know how on earth Hiccup would get it before Kakra-

"Because they weren't single!" This was shouted by both Hiccup and Kakra at the same time, and Heather and Astrid both jumped.

"You said that every _single_ person on the ship was killed," Kakra went on, glaring at Hiccup, "but since they were a newly wedded couple, they weren't _single_. Thereby, they weren't killed."

"Good!" Knife said. "One point for Berk, one point for Berserk. The score's all tied up!"

"Wait!" Hiccup shouted. "We said it at the same time! We should either both do a point, or retry it with a different question!"

Heather was about to say the same thing, only Hiccup beat her to it. He was _right_. There wasn't any way Knife was going to let Athena's team get away with cheating _again_ …

Right?

"No, I heard Kakra say it first!" Athena shouted. "Our team gets the point!"

"Alrightee then!" Knife said.

Heather wanted to race forward, grab Knife's scrawny little neck, and force him to give back the points that were rightfully theirs. First, the cheating on the stealth, and now _this?_

"Okay, next question!" Knife went on, and Heather decided that she could get revenge on them later. Right now, she was only focused on watching Hiccup. She looked at him...but then she realized that he was pale and swaying on his feet. Heather was tempted to race forward and grab him and force him to lie down. He didn't look good. He was overworking himself. It wasn't healthy for him…

"Who was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the First?" Knife asked.

Hiccup's eyes brightened. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the First was a great king of the mainland!" Hiccup shouted quickly, rushing his words in case Kakra knew the answer as well. "But he was also known as a traitor because he lost our home on the mainlands and forced us to move to the island we now know as Berk!"

"Wow," Heather breathed. "He's good."

"Well," Astrid said, "he was named after Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the First and Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Second. It would kinda make sense why he would know so much about them. If I were named after someone, I would like to know what they did."

Heather nodded.

"Very, very good!" Knife congratulated. A few more Berserkers clapped for Hiccup, and Heather found herself clapping as well.

Right up until...

"HEY!" Kakra yelped. "That doesn't count! He was named after Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the First! That point was like cheating! They shouldn't get it! They're cheaters!"

 _And your team would know ALL ABOUT cheating,_ Heather wanted so desperately to shout. She looked at Knife, almost pleadingly. _Let us keep the point. LET. US. KEEP. THE. POINT_.

Knife shrugged, and Heather's eyes narrowed in a rush of fury and anger. "I suppose you're right," he said. "Okay, that last one didn't count!"

Heather had to physically restrain Astrid before she attacked the referee.

"Next question!" Knife said. "This one is simple! Alright...if you were fighting a highly skilled soldier with fast reflexes, a sword, and lots of bulk, with the weak spots being the stomach and legs, and all you have is a hammer to defend yourself with, how would you go about defeating your enemy?"

"That's an easy one!" Kakra shouted, although it was clear she was desperate. "Go for the stomach! If you can knock him down, a final, killing blow wouldn't be too hard!"

Heather _knew_ that answer was wrong. Now, she just had to wait for Hiccup to get the right one.

"Actually," Hiccup said, and Heather beamed brightly at her brilliant brother, "the best way to go would be to start at the knees. You said he was bulky? Use his size against him. Duck against his blows. Feint attack. Throw him off balance, go for the other leg with the hammer. When he's off balance enough, _then_ you can knock him in the stomach. And since you can't actually smash a hammer against his head and be certain that death will result, take his sword and slit his throat. Or stabbing in the chest works pretty good, too. Whichever way suits you."

The crowds cheered.

Kakra did not. Instead, she roared in fury and attacked Hiccup, knocking him to the ground in one small movement. She instantly started hitting him and punching him, shouting, "I'LL SHOW YOU HOW A REAL WARRIOR FIGHTS!" as she did.

She punched him in the face; Hiccup yelped. She kicked him: he shouted again. Trying to get up was useless, because she practically had him pinned. He was defenseless against her, and his body was already so weak to begin with...

Astrid was the first to react, followed instantly by Heather. Astrid slammed into Kakra while the crowds gasped. More Berserkers raced forward to help, and as soon as they got Kakra under control, Astrid raced back towards Hiccup.

Heather could hear her father shouting and demanding to be released, but by the fact that he didn't show up, Heather assumed that his request was denied and ignored. Astrid grabbed Hiccup roughly and pulled him into her arms, keeping him locked in her tight embrace while whispering, "Are you alright? Are you okay?" over and over again.

Obviously, Hiccup wasn't okay, because he was barely conscious and even more pale than he had been before. There were dark purple bruises already blooming across his face, and Heather didn't want to imagine what other damage Kakra had inflicted on him.

"Well!" Knife gasped, glaring at Kakra. "I'd NEVER!"

"You're supposed to be on OUR side!" Kakra protested, struggling against the Berserkers holding her back. "You're supposed to help US win!"

"No!" Knife objected. "This is supposed to be a fair competition! As far as I am concerned, Kakra is disqualified! The Berkians win the intelligence part of the competition!"

The crowds cheered; nearly half the Berserkers did, and although Heather was happy for the praise, her mind was focused on her brother.

If Kakra harmed him…

"You won," Astrid whispered to Hiccup, her voice surprisingly calm. She ran her fingers through his hair. "You won. You won. You did _so great,_ Hiccup…" She hugged him tightly, her grip fierce and gentle both at once.

"Aaaaawwwwwww," a few of the Berserkers chorused in unison, and it obviously wasn't done in sarcasm. They thought Astrid's kindness towards Hiccup was sweet. Heather wondered if any of the Berserkers were _ever_ treated with kindness.

"If we're done here," Knife said, "then we will continue with the third and final competition! The sword play one!"

Heather saw Athena glare at Kakra and whisper something in her ear, and Kakra instantly coward, bowing her head and nodding slowly, clearly terrified.

It was then that Heather realized something she had failed to notice before.

The Berserkers weren't _free_ people. They didn't have lives of their own. They were no better than slaves: tools for either Dagur, and now, for his sister. The only truly good Chief they ever had was Oswald the Agreeable, and now, Oswald was gone, leaving his more-than-mentally disturbed children in charge to take up what he left behind.

 _I will free the Berserkers,_ Heather thought determinedly. _I will beat Athena and free these people from the bondage that surrounds them._

Athena stepped forward. "I, Athena the Unhinged, Chief of Berserk, represent Berserk!" she shouted.

To Heather's shock, the crowd didn't cheer as much as they had the first few times around.

Heather then stepped forward. "I, Heather Haddock, future Chief of Berserk, represent the Berkians!" she shouted.

And, to her surprise, the Berserkers _cheered_.


	19. Chapter 19

**Welcome back, guys! :D Chapter 19! There will be one more chapter after this one, I believe, and then, we are finished! :D Wow, I can't believe we're almost finished already...**

 **Shout-outs:**

 **ParagonNight666: Yay, NOT DEAD! :D I've died metaphorically about a hundred times just from being in this fandom. It's not very fun, I'll give it that. XD *bows back* I am HONORED! :D Thanks a bunch for all the awesome encouragements. :D**

 **hiccupandtoothless294: Go Heather! It's all yours!**

 **HappyPup1: OH NO! AAAAAAAAAAH! Why do we keep doing this? XD**

 **Toothless801: YES! I am a DRAGONITE! We are DRAGONITES! :D It's the official name given to us by Cressida Cowell (the original author of the HTTYD books).. Apparently, there was a vote with three names she suggested, and Dragonites got the most votes, so here we are. XD YES JUSTICE! JUSTICE IS COOL. :D Thanks for the ammmmmmmmmaaaaazzzzzzziiiiinnnnnggggg review! Stay awesome! :D**

 **BraveDragonof214: Haha! Metaphorical page. You can imagine yourself turning the page. :D**

 **neobendium: Yeaheah, KNIFE! I LOVE this referee! :D**

 **WhiteWinterStar: Yeah! Go Heather!**

 **midnightsky0612: That just about sums it up. :)**

 **thearizona: Hahaha. You know, I'm not really a violent person in reality. I consider myself a person who likes butterflies and puppy dogs, but the minute I sit down to write, it always ends up being...VIOLENT. :D Okay, so I'll keep your vote in mind, since you can't vote for it. Awesome! :D**

 **Silver Electricity: Thaaaannnnkkks! It's good to hear from ya again, and I'm glad you like the story! And I will help you! *grabs another weird looking death gun* DIE, ATHENA! DIE!**

 **LunarCatNinja: I know...but he would have won anyways without Kakra attacking him. He's a lot smarter than she is, after all. :)**

 **Dria Haddock II: He he! I am making the fandom start liking Berserkers! Except Athena. She can die. And I wouldn't mind letting Ivan die, either. Or Kakra. BUT THE REST OF THE BERKIANS ARE FINE. :D Yehaw! Dragonites unite! :D**

 **Twilightandpercyjacksonlover30: Awesome! Yeah, a few people guessed Heather's plan, and you are one of those few people! Awesome! :D Let's hope the Berserkers follow Heather! And let's hope Heather survives! And you're welcome! I like giving people shout-outs. :D**

 **The Princess of Derp: Thanks! :D**

 **LiviLovesDragons: Can I see a show of hands? *raises hands* Yep, everyone wants to kill Athena...:XD**

 **Hermione Burkhardt: Wow, thank you so much! :D I'm glad you enjoy this fanfiction so much! I know I'm having a blast writing it. It's good to know that there are people out there who love what I write. :D And yeah! Go Heather! Let's see how this goes…**

* * *

The Berserkers whooped and shouted encouragements. A few of them even began chanting, "Hea-ther! Hea-ther! Hea-ther!" over and over again, just as they had done with Athena when the contest first began. Despite the situation, Heather found herself beaming. The Berserkers were already cheering for her more than they were cheering for their Chief. If she defeated Athena, they would follow her anywhere.

Then, Heather remembered Hiccup. "Do you got him, Astrid?" she asked.

Astrid nodded firmly, the arms she had positioned around Hiccup tightening. "Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I've got him. You go. And for the love of Thor, Heather, be _careful_. Don't die."

Heather smiled. "No one's managed to kill me _yet_ ," she said. "I should be able to take Athena." _I will have to be able to take Athena. I have to save my family. I have to free the Berserkers. Lives are at stake. If I loose, there is no telling what Athena will do to Hiccup or Astrid or Dad. There's no telling even whether or not she'll attack Berk._

She wasn't going to lose.

She couldn't afford to lose.

"Alright!" Knife announced. Athena and Heather stood nearly three feet away from each other, glaring harshly at one another. She heard Astrid struggling to get Hiccup to his feet, whispering encouraging things as she went. She pushed her worry about her brother into the back of her mind.

Right now, she had to focus on winning. If she lost, her brother would most likely be killed by Athena. She could worry about his health after she ensured his safety.

"Bring out the pot!" Knife shouted, raising his hands into the air.

Berserkers emerged out of the door of the arena - ten of them to be exact, pulling and pushing a large, metal cart across the floor. Sitting on top of the chart was a large, red-hot pot that was big enough to fit maybe five or six Monstrous Nightmares. Liquid splashed out of it, and Heather barely managed to jump out of the way before the melted metal hit her arm.

It sizzled against the ground and burned once before finally flaring out.

The only thing Heather was certain of at that moment was the fact that falling into that pot would result in certain, and probably almost instant, death.

Falling in there would _not_ be fun.

Another Berserker handed Heather an axe, and Heather took it from him, yanking it out of his hands, wishing that she had her double-sided axe she was so used to fighting with. She would probably be able to fight Athena no problem then.

This weapon felt odd in her grip. The blade felt too heavy, and the handle felt too light. She was used to having both sides of her axe weigh the same, or at least almost the same. This was something new altogether, and it wasn't something she felt comfortable with.

But she had to do it, for the sake of her family, and for the sake of her island. She sucked in a deep breath. "I'm ready," she said.

Athena drew her sword and aimed it at Heather. "Good!" she said. "Now climb!"

The cart rolled to a stop, and it was then that Heather noticed the wooden ladders leaning against it. She was surprised the wood hadn't burned yet, but then she supposed the pot itself was designed to be able to withstand great heat. That was probably the only reason.

Athena began climbing, and shortly afterwards, Heather did the same, making sure she didn't drop her axe on the way up. The crowds continued chanting, but she tuned them out, focused only on keeping her head locked on her destination.

When she made it to the top, she noticed a large piece of thick wood stretched across the pot. She glanced at Athena as the Berserker Chief stepped onto it, and after little hesitation, Heather did the same.

They would be fighting on this piece of wood, directly over the boiling substance beneath them.

Heather could feel the heat of it, and she instantly broke out in sweat. It was too hot. Too hot. Simply too hot. She tried to focus on keeping her breathing steady. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

 _I can do this,_ she told herself. _I can do this. I just have to beat Athena. It should be simple_.

As if on cue, the sun began setting, only a few measly sunrays remaining to light the arena. Even if the sun was down completely, Heather was pretty sure she would have been able to see without much of a problem. The giant pot was glowing, as was its contents. She could see Athena's face just fine.

"Alright!" Knife called. "The last one to remain standing wins! If you fall into the pot, you're dead!"

Heather took in another breath, and let it out.

"Are the contestants ready?" Knife called out.

"Ready!" Athena shouted. She sounded way too confident. Dangerously confident. She obviously thought defeating Heather would be easy.

 _Will defeating me be easy?_

"R-Ready!" Heather shouted back. Now that she was finally here, her confidence was gone. _I can do it, I can do it, I can do it, I can't do it, I can't do it, oh Thor, I can't do it…_

"In that case," Knife said.

Heather held her breath and counted backwards from five to herself silently, taking an inhale and an exhale with each second.

"Let the fight begin!" Knife finished. "Ready, set, FIGHT!"

Athena and Heather charged at each other. The heat rushed at Heather's face, making it nearly impossible to see, but that didn't stop the determined girl. She was a Haddock; Haddocks were naturally hard-headed and stubborn. She had learned that by being around Hiccup and Stoick.

She parried with Athena, swung her axe in an arch, and went for Athena's legs. Athena met her axe with her sword, and Heather was forced to take a step backwards so she wasn't shoved into the pot.

She needed to clear her mind and focus on her strategies. She needed to look for Athena's weakness. Maybe she fought similar to the way Dagur fought. Maybe Heather could use that against her.

After all, Athena _was_ Dagur's sister. It would make sense. They were both trained, probably, by their father, Oswald the Agreeable, and therefore, they most likely had the same strategies.

It was worth a shot. _Anything_ that kept Heather from dying was worth a shot at that point.

Feint attack. That's what she would have to do. She had to feint, and then make it look like she was going to feint again, and then, go in for the blow. She didn't want to _kill_ Athena, per se - shoving her into the pot was the idea. Let the pot finish her off. Let her burn to death.

Heather lifted her axe and swung it at Athena's legs. But, to her surprise, Athena didn't react to block the blow, so when Heather pulled back, since it was a feint attack, after all, Athena slammed her sword against Heather's weapon, and the black haired Berkian stumbled backwards.

She almost tripped and fell off the plank, just barely managing to catch herself, remaining in a low crouch as she studied Athena.

Alright. She would have to be more careful next time, or else there might not _be_ a next time. She stood up again and assessed her enemy once more. Somehow, Athena knew it was going to be a feint attack.

Which meant that now, Heather needed to go for a real attack.

It was then that Heather realized what her problem was: Athena and Dagur must have trained together. When Heather fought Dagur, he didn't know how to react, because he always fought his sister, who was most likely better than he was.

It meant that Heather would have to remember what Dagur did, and then do the exact opposite if she was going to beat Athena. Heather was confused by her own thoughts, but she decided that whether or not she was right, it was worth a try. It couldn't do more harm than it would good.

She charged and went for Athena's arm - but not with her axe. With her hand. Athena, by any means, wasn't expecting it, so Heather was able to grab her arm without much of a problem.

Once she grabbed it, she didn't let go. She clenched her fist and tightened her grip around Athena's forearm.

Now, if Heather fell into the pot, she would be pulling Athena with her.

Athena still had her sword arm, and so did Heather. Athena went to slice through Heather's arm, and Heather blocked the blow with her axe. She made sure to keep her grip on Athena tight and unbreakable.

She heard the crowds gasp, and she even heard her father and Astrid shout something, but she couldn't make any of it out. The heat was getting to her head, making her dizzy, and she needed to focus if she was going to stay aware and keep fighting Athena. She blocked another one of Athena's blows, and another, and another-

Athena then swung Heather and pushed her over the side of the plank. But, since Heather had her hand clasped around Athena's arm, she didn't fall into the pot.

She was clinging to Athena's arm for dear life, her other hand clutching the handle of her axe. Athena was raising her sword again, clearly willing to chop Heather's arm right off, and Heather blocked the blow.

She swung her axe, and Athena stumbled. Heather used what time she had to pull herself back up onto the plank. Then, she released Athena's arm and ran towards the other side of the wood.

She didn't want to risk being yanked over the side like that again.

Her mind raced. She had to do something, or it would be the end of her and her family. Athena was good, so Heather didn't think there was a way to kill her unless she managed to shove her off the wooden plank and into the pot.

Wait.

 _Wooden plank_.

It was stupid. It was absolutely stupid if it didn't work, and even if it _did_ work, Heather would live her life telling everyone how stupid she was and how lucky she was to have made it out alive.

But this was her only chance to beat Athena. She had to do this.

As Athena charged, Heather stepped to the very edge of the plank, the ladder leading downwards directly behind her. Then, just as Athena made it to the middle of the plank, Heather jumped and smashed the wood with her axe.

Splinters flew everywhere, and the wood cracked horrifically beneath her weapon. As the wood began to give way, Heather jumped backwards again, standing on the top rung of the ladder, clear of the broken wood.

Athena was too slow to notice it, and she ran directly over Heather's crack. Then, all at once, the wood snapped in two pieces, right beneath Athena's feet. Athena screamed, but there was no saving her. She screeched as her feet hit the boiling metal in the pot, but no one was going to help her. Even if they could drag her out, there wasn't any hope.

Athena sank into the substance of the pot, screaming bloody murder. Then, her head was emerged, and all went silent.

Heather stood there, staring at the pot with horror. She quickly sprang down the ladder as fast as her two legs could carry her, relieved that she could breathe again without it being unbearably hot.

She scanned the crowd with her eyes. They were staring at her in shock; all of them. She couldn't see where her father, Astrid or Hiccup were, and she didn't have a chance to find out before Knife stepped up, grabbed her hand, and pulled it over her head.

"And the winner is Heather Haddock!" Knife announced.

There was a beat.

And then, the crowd _cheered_. They clapped and whooped, cheering, chanting, shouting their congrats. Some of them even shouted, "I knew she could do it!" while others shouted, "Great show! GREAT show!"

Before Heather even knew what was happening, she was embraced by her father. She hugged him back, breathing in relief.

She'd won.

She was the Chief of the Berserkers now.

"Aaah, my head…"

She and Stoick broke their embrace and looked towards the voice. Hiccup sat up, still being protectively held by Astrid. The Hofferson girl looked beyond happy and excited, while Hiccup looked simply confused as he observed the cheering crowds.

He looked at Heather. "Hi," he said, clearly perplexed. "Um...did I miss something?"


	20. Chapter 20

**This is the last chapter, guys...*sniff sniff* I will put my end notes at the end of this chapter, and here are the shout-outs for chapter 19:**

 **TomBoyBookGirl: Poor Hiccup. He missed an epic fight. *throws you parachute***

 **EmmaLennyEddie: THAT would be an interesting twist, but I just have to say that no, no amnesia in this story. If I did that, there would have to be tons of other chapters...hmm…*strokes chin* I might think about doing an amnesia what-if story in the future though…**

 **Lightclaw's Shadow: I'm glad you liked that part. :D**

 **Annanarra: Thanks! I loved writing that fight scene. :) And no worries about reviewing. Like I've said before, no pressure. Reviews are a blessing for me, but don't worry about leaving any. :D**

 **ParagonNight666: OOOH! BUT ATHENA DESERVED A VIOLENT DEATH! Aw, I wouldn't call you "Paragon the weak and helpless." I'd call you "Paragon the Awesomest." I'll be "Beyond the Clouds." Or "Beyond weak and helpless." XD I'm glad you liked the chapter! It was probably the longest one in the fanfiction. :)**

 **thearizona: Yeah...I didn't break 20 chapters, but hey, at least I made it! I like stopping my stories on even numbers, if I can. I know, it's weird, but stopping on 19 chapters just feels...ick to me. I feel the need to write another chapters. I can't stop on 19 chapters. Many people can, and everyone does it good, BUT NOT ME. XD**

 **midnightsky0612: Seriously Hiccup. You couldn't wake up five minutes sooner? :)**

 **LiviLovesDragons: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. :D But seriously, Hiccup just missed his sister's epic battle scene...and it's not the first time he's missed it, either. He missed the time when Heather was fighting Dagur...ugh. Just wake up next time, Hiccup. XD**

 **BraveDragonof214: You got that right. He missed a SERIOUS butt-kicking. XD**

 **HappyPup1: Awww, but I was beginning to like the pleases...hahahahaha! :D :D**

 **neobendium: WHEEE HA! Heather is AMAZING! :D**

 **Mylittlefangirlworld: I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)**

 **Dria Haddock II: LONG LIVE THE CHIEF! LONG LIVE THE CHIEF! :D**

 **Carly Marley: Whoo hoo! Chief Heather! :D**

 **LunarCatNinja: Yeahh! Go Heather! She's amazing. She knows how to keep a level-head. :)**

 **Toothless801: *drags you into the confetti too* Confetti is awesome! :D I'm really glad you like the fighting scenes! I love writing fight scenes. I don't know why, I just do. :) It's funny. I like to imagine myself being all amazing if I ever had to go in battle, but in reality, I would probably be screaming and running while yelling "OH DARN OH DARN OH DARN OH DARN!" XD And I'm glad you liked the Hiccup line! :D And I will stay awesome...under one condition. YOU stay awesomeER. :D :D :D Thanks for reviewing! :D**

 **Cardfighter By Maple: Whooooooooo! :D :D :D**

* * *

Heather and her family stood at the docks, a few Berserkers standing behind Heather. Daybreak had spread across the island, the night melting away by fresh, warm sunbeams.

"Sure you don't want to come back with us?" Astrid asked. "You can always come back to Berserk when you need to."

Heather shook her head. "I'd love to, Astrid," she said, "but...I'm the Chief of this island now. This is my place." She was actually already beginning to see a change in the Berserkers. Not only had they let Stoick, Astrid, and Hiccup stay on Berserk through the night so they could rest, but they also supplied them with everything they needed, including a few bandages for Hiccup.

Heather was certain that with both Athena and Dagur out of the picture, the Berserkers would change. But she would have to stay behind to do that, and quite honestly, she didn't mind. She had picked becoming Chief of the Berserkers. She had decided it in it of herself. No one persuaded her. It was her own decision.

And did she regret it?

No.

Astrid and Heather shook hands, and then, they shared a brief hug. "Thank you, Astrid," Heather said once they pulled away and broke the embrace. "It was nice having you as a friend."

"We'll always be friends, Heather," Astrid said, "even though you're half way across the archipelago. We'll always be friends."

Heather nodded. Yes, Astrid was right. Heather would never forget the Hofferson girl...and besides, this wasn't a forever goodbye, either. They would still see each other; maybe not very often, but they would still see each other here and there.

Then, Stoick and Heather embraced. Once again, Heather felt ultimate love in her father's arms, different than what she had felt before. Her father would always love and care about her, whether she was Chief of the Berserker tribe or not.

"I'm proud of you, Heather," Stoick said. "Never forget that."

"I won't," she promised. "Thanks, Dad."

Then, she turned to her brother. Hiccup blinked at her twice, looking confused and shocked. Then, he laughed softly.

"You're insane, Heather," Hiccup said, shaking his head. "You are absolutely insane."

Heather grinned. "I learned from the best," she said.

"No, I mean it," Hiccup said. "What you did was crazy brave, crazy stupid, and just plain crazy. It took guts to do what you did, Heather." He put his hand on her shoulder. "And I'm glad you're my sister," he said.

She hugged him tightly, and he hugged her back with the same tightness in his grip. "I'm glad you're my brother," she whispered. "Thank you, Hiccup."

In response, he simply held her tighter. She sighed in contentment. She was sure that she could have stood there forever, simply hugging her brother, remembering everything they went through, and everything they put at risk to make sure others were safe.

Hiccup took a knife for Heather.

Heather took the hardest part of the competition for herself.

They were a lot alike, Hiccup and Heather, and it wasn't hard to see that they were indeed brother and sister. Heather, of course, would never have it any other way. She loved her family, and would do anything to protect them.

"What are you going to do now, Heather?" Astrid asked, and Hiccup and Heather parted their embrace to look at the Hofferson girl as she spoke.

Heather looked at the Berserkers behind her, and then back at her family and Astrid. "I'm going to rebuild Berserk," she said. "I'm going to reform this island, but this time, we're going to build it on everything you guys taught me. I will build it on willingness to fight for the ones you care about." She looked at Astrid. "I will build it on humility, compassion, kindness, selflessness." She looked at Hiccup. "I will help the Berserkers become who they were always destined to be. I will lead them as you have led me." She looked at her father.

They smiled in response, and she smiled back.

"And it's not like we'll never see each other again," Heather said, her smile only growing as she continued speaking. "I'm the Chief of Berserk, yes, and we live far away, but I'll see you guys every peace treaty renewal, won't I?"

Hiccup perked up. "Yes!" he said. "We'll see you every peace treaty signing...we need to schedule that."

"We do indeed," Stoick agreed, putting his hand on his son's shoulder. "And Berk is always a home to you too, Heather. Don't forget that. You can always come back, and Berk will always support you in everything you do."

Heather's smile only continued to grow until it was in danger of splitting her face in half. "Thanks, Dad," she said. "I'm going to miss you...all of you."

"We'll send Windshear over," Hiccup promised. "I'm sure she'll be thrilled to help you."

Heather nodded. She had been wondering about Windshear. "Thank you, Hiccup," she said. She put her hands on his shoulders. "Now," she said, "do me a favor and stay away from knives coming in your direction, got it?"

Hiccup laughed. "I'll do my best," he said. "Although I make no promises."

"Don't worry," Astrid said, bumping Heather's shoulder with her own. "I'll keep him out of trouble and tie him to a tree when he doesn't stay out of it."

"Oy!" Hiccup protested, and Heather, Astrid, and Stoick laughed in unison. Hiccup crossed his arms, but he was smiling. "Alright, I'll probably deserve it," he said.

Heather nodded. "I suppose this is so long for now," she said, shrugging. She would miss her family, and she would miss her friends, but she would see them again. She made that a promise. She would visit them all, see them lots, make special trips to Berk just to see how Astrid and Hiccup and her friends and family were holding up…

After she rebuilt Berserk on edifying foundations, of course.

Hiccup nodded. "I suppose it is," he said. "For now."

Heather waved at Astrid, Hiccup, and her father as they stepped back onto their ship. Shortly afterwards, they were heading back towards Berk, and Heather continued waving until they were out of sight.

Then, she turned back towards the Berserkers. Only, they weren't just "Berserkers" anymore. They were her people, and she was their Chief. She would lead them - the _right_ way.

"Alright," she said, clapping her hands together. "Let's get to work!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Okay, guys, so I just have to say that when I first started writing this story, I thought, "Oh, this is gonna be lame. No one's gonna like it, I bet. I'll just post it just because." And now look where we are: almost three hundred reviews, TONS of followers, LOTS of faves, and over 14,000 page views. That's amazing, guys. I didn't expect any of this.**

 **It just shows me how far I've come since I first started writing fanfiction. September 12 will be my one year anniversary of writing fanfiction, and I find it amazing that there are people, sometimes near and sometimes half way across the world, who read my writings and enjoy it enough to leave reviews, or follow it, or even read it in general.**

 **You guys are so amazing. I just have to say it. You guys are incredible, and I always have my mind blown by all the compliments and such. I get encouragements from you guys, constructive criticism from you guys, and just plain awesomeness altogether from you guys, and I could never thank you enough.**

 **I hope reading all of this was worth your time, and I'm glad so many people enjoyed all of...*waves hands around* THIS. *gestures to story*. I know I'm not a super experienced author, and my writing isn't the greatest, but regardless, I'm always amazed by you guys. You never cease to make my day. Every single little story favorite, and every single little follower tells me that I'm doing a good job.**

 **It encourages me, guys. YOU guys encourage me. If I open my email in the evening after having a really bad day, and I see a new review, it's like the rain clouds part and I feel so much...HAPPIER, for lack of better word. You guys are simply amazing. You take me beyond the clouds. :D**

 **So, thank you. I can't say that enough. :D**

 **Until next story! :D**

 **-BeyondTheClouds777**


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